evidence: Canada and the U.S. suffer about 77,000 deaths a year from fentanyl. Europe doesn't come close. It's enforcement agencies are desperate to stop fentanyl crossing the Atlantic. (Photo: An example of the amount of fentanyl that can be deadly.)Photo by Jacquelyn Martin /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Hardly a week goes by that we don’t hear new horrifying numbers about opioid deaths in North America, four of five of which are linked to fentanyl. Last year, 70,000 Americans died of overdoses from fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin. The toll in Canada is comparable, at about 7,000 a year. In B.C., fentanyl-related deaths run at about 2,000, which is among the worst rates per capita on the continent.