Trump Designates Fentanyl as a "Weapon of Mass Destruction," in Escalation

"President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction" on Monday, in the latest escalation of his administration's supposed campaign against drug trafficking. "[T]he potential for fentanyl to be weaponized for concentrated, large-scale terror attacks by organized adversaries is a serious threat to the United States," the order says. It directs the government to investigate and prosecute those involved in the illicit fentanyl trade."

"In a press conference announcing the declaration, Trump falsely claimed that "two to three hundred thousand people die every year" from the drug - a wildly inflated number, with the true figure being in the tens of thousands per year. "There's no doubt that America's adversaries are trafficking fentanyl into the United States, in part because they want to kill Americans," Trump went on."

An executive order formally designates fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction" and instructs federal authorities to investigate and prosecute those involved in the illicit fentanyl trade. The order claims a risk of large-scale weaponization by organized adversaries and frames fentanyl as a direct military threat. A public statement accompanying the order included a grossly inflated annual death toll and allegations that foreign adversaries traffic fentanyl to kill Americans. Immediate effects of the order remain unclear. The administration has used anti-drug rhetoric to justify border crackdowns and increased military activity in Latin America.

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