An open discussion on fentanyl was held last night at the Herman Prior Centre in Portage la Prairie.

Five panellists were brought in to help educate the public, and answer any questions they may have.

"The good showing definitely means there's a desire to learn in the community," says Addictions Foundation of Manitoba Medical Director Dr. Ginette Poulin "Some people are just not sure. How severe is the problem they're asking, and it highlights that we need to help de-stigmatize, increase the awareness, share our knowledge's, go home and back to schools to have discussions with students, friends, parents or children, or family units. If that means integrating (someone with addictions issues) into resources or care, and helping them access the care they need."

Last night's panellists (from left to right): AFM Rehab Councillor Brenda Miller-Adams, Portage RCMP Community Liaison Officer Sean O'Keefe, Member of the Board of Directors for the Paramedics Association of Manitoba Leith Saunders, Addictions Foundation of Manitoba Medical Director Dr. Ginette Poulin and Dr. Johann Blignaut.

Portage RCMP Constable Sean O'Keefe was another panellist, and says fentanyl definitely exists in Portage.

"Luckily, we've had very small incidents of overdoses," O'Keefe says. "Unfortunately, we've had one death contributed to fentanyl abuse. These numbers are kind of indicative of the province as a whole, given our population, but our big fear is if there's an upswing. So it goes a long way to have events like this to get ahead of it."

Dr. Poulin adds: "I feel it's the tip of the iceberg that is letting us know there's an underlying problem (addiction) that we need to address. Certainly we're all part of the solution: medical care, family units, the schools, our judicial system and border controls. It's a time we all need to step up and look and evaluate, what is our role in this and how can we participate in making the difference."

Some drug information that was set up at the open house

Const. O'Keefe adds there was a lot of concern coming from the public, including how is it getting into the community.

"A lot of the incidents we see here are in regards to (fentanyl) being formed in the patch. So these are through prescriptions and are being passed to people, or are being taken from people with legitimate prescriptions for the drug. Other concerns include what can be done prevention wise, if we're talking about youths it's important to speak to them about the subject before you find out about it after the fact."