Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday designating fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” – classifying the synthetic opioid not only a lethal drug, but as a potential chemical weapon.
The order also directs the Pentagon and justice department to take additional steps to combat production and distribution of the drug. The designation comes amid the administration’s use of escalating and increasingly militaristic tactics to combat drug smuggling.
The White House said the move “unleashes every tool to combat the cartels and foreign networks responsible for flooding communities with this deadly substance”, warning that fentanyl could be weaponized for “concentrated, large-scale terror attacks by organized adversaries”.
“Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic,” Trump’s order said.
It is not clear what immediate impacts the order would have on national policy. It is already a crime to threaten to or attempt to use weapons of mass destruction. Historically, a weapon of mass destruction has been defined as “radiological, chemical, biological, or other device that is intended to harm a large number of people”, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The US president’s claim that fentanyl could be weaponized for “concentrated, large-scale terror attacks by organized adversaries” has drawn skepticism from drug policy experts. “Neither terrorist organizations nor militaries are using fentanyl as a weapon,” said Jonathan Caulkins, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who researches drugs, crime, terror and violence told Stat News. “It is not obvious to me that this is a threat.”
Trump’s order comes after the administration also moved to designate drug cartels this year as foreign terrorist organizations, as justification for military action against them. Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out more than 20 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people.
Military experts have said that drug cartels operating vessels in the Caribbean would have typically been moving cocaine, rather than fentanyl, which they mainly send to Europe rather than the US. There has also been little or no proof made public that the boats that were stuck were carrying drugs.
Still, Trump has repeatedly threatened strikes on land in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico to battle drug trafficking. In a sweeping strategy document published last week, Trump said his administration’s foreign policy focus would be on reasserting US dominance in the western hemisphere.
Mexico is the largest source of US-bound illicit fentanyl. Many of the chemicals used to manufacture the drug are sourced from China. The opioid is a leading cause of US overdose deaths, though such deaths have been declining in recent years.
Still, Trump has repeatedly cited fentanyl as a major threat – seeking to address the issue with trade policies and tougher criminal penalties for traffickers. The administration has also falsely blamed fentanyl trafficking on undocumented people, and used fentanyl in its justification for harsher immigration enforcement.
At the same time, public health experts have warned that the administration has failed to address an ongoing addiction crisis within the US. Experts have assailed the the Trump administration for cutting staff and resources from key federal agencies that oversee drug addiction treatment and policies. The administration has also moved to withhold funding from certain harm reduction organizations.
Law enforcement and public health experts have also warned that cuts to Medicaid, the program that provides health care to low-income Americans, could devastate efforts to treat substance abuse disorders.
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