Earlier this month, China announced that it would be banning variations of the powerful synthetic opioid, fentanyl.

Of 70, 237 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2017, 28,466 involved synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, which has become the most deadly drug in America’s opioid epidemic in recent years.

A majority of the fentanyl in the United States comes from China, and officials are hopeful that the ban could reduce the supply of fentanyl reaching the United States.

Fentanyl is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The extremely potent drug is often mixed in with heroin but has also appeared with other substances, such as cocaine and marijuana.

Earlier this year, PDFNJ launched a new campaign illustrating the potent nature of fentanyl. It is vital that New Jersey residents are aware of its deadly effects.

Drug-related deaths in New Jersey have eclipsed record totals in the state in each of the past four years, in large part due to the increase in fentanyl overdoses. Officials estimate more than half of the state’s 3,163 drug overdoses in 2018 involved fentanyl, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. In 2017, about 1,400 or 50 percent of New Jersey drug overdose deaths were fentanyl-related.