Over the years, fentanyl has become the dominant drug on streets across Canada, taking thousands of lives.

In recent months it has also become one of the excuses used by U.S. President Donald Trump in levying massive tariffs on Canadian exports south of the border.

But how did it become what it is today?

National Post reporter Tom Blackwell joins Dave Breakenridge to discuss the factors that led to fentanyl’s explosion, how labs have sprung up across Canada, and our country’s role in the global market.

Background reading: ‘All fentanyl, all the time’: How the deadly drug became Canada’s public enemy No. 1

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