Trump Signs Fentanyl Executive Order: Weapon of Mass Destruction

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order classifying the synthetic drug fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. According to Reuters, Trump announced this at the White House, where he was presenting selected members of the armed forces with a new military award for the defense of the border with Mexico (Mexican Border Defense Medal).

“No bomb does what this one does. 200,000 to 300,000 people die every year that we know of,” Trump said as he signed the order. In the past, the US president blamed China, Mexico and Canada for the fentanyl crisis in the US.

According to the AFP agency, the American president is further intensifying the campaign against drug cartels in Latin America with this step. Trump also said that the United States would begin cracking down on drug traffickers on the mainland. Since September of this year, the US has carried out over 20 airstrikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean whose crews it says are smuggling drugs. More than 80 people were killed in the attacks.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is significantly stronger than heroin, while being easier and cheaper to produce. In the United States, the drug has surpassed heroin and prescription opioids in the number of overdoses.