US EditionTrump signs order labeling fentanyl ‘weapon of mass destruction’
President Trump classified fentanyl as a chemical weapon to intensify efforts against drug trafficking amid annual fentanyl-related deaths of up to 300,000 Americans, officials said.
- On Monday, Dec. 15, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office classifying fentanyl as a `weapon of mass destruction` while flanked by Pete Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, and Tom Homan.
- Having earlier labeled drug cartels `foreign terrorist organizations` in February, the administration says the move aims to escalate anti-drug smuggling with maritime strikes in the Caribbean and U.S.-Mexico border enforcement.
- Trump said `No bomb does what this is doing`, highlighting illicit fentanyl’s extreme potency as two milligrams lethal dose equals 10 to 15 grains of table salt.
- Federal agencies will receive directives to disrupt fentanyl production, trafficking and financial networks, but it remained unclear how the classification will affect legal or operational measures for drug traffickers or people impacted by fentanyl use.
- With overdose deaths exceeding more than 80,000 Americans in 2024, the `weapons of mass destruction` label recalls its Iraq-era use for nuclear, biological, or chemical threats.
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222 Articles
U.S. President Donald Trump announced for months that he appoints fentanyl - a powerful synthesis opioid, responsible for many deaths by overdose in the United States - right to a “arm of mass destruction”, reports AFP.
President Trump Takes a Much Needed Step on Fentanyl
For years the threat that fentanyl poses to US security and the health and safety of Americans has been well known. During the first Trump term in office, the Department of Defense and Drug Enforcement Administration began moving in the direction of designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. But when Joe Biden took office, the effort was sidelined. In fact, under Biden’s watch the threat from fentanyl metastasized as the border was th…
Trump declares fentanyl a 'weapon of mass destruction’ in dramatic escalation of US drug war
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order formally designating fentanyl as a ‘weapon of mass destruction’, classifying the synthetic opioid not only as a lethal narcotic but as a substance that could be treated as a potential chemical weapon
‘Closer To A Chemical Weapon’: Fentanyl Designated A Weapon Of Mass Destruction
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday, fundamentally reshaping the American response to the opioid crisis, officially designating illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The directive moves the federal government’s posture toward fentanyl trafficking from a traditional law enforcement issue to a matter of national defense […] ‘Closer To A Chemical Weapon’: Fentanyl Designated A…
The decree signed on Monday by the U.S. President assures that the synthetic opioid "is more like a chemical weapon than a narcotic." According to the U.S. health authorities, this drug caused 48,000 overdose deaths in 2024.
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