US Designates 'Fentanyl' Under Nuclear, Chemical, And Biological Weapons Category
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designating illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as weapons of mass destruction (WMD), placing them under the same category as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. The order ties fentanyl to organised crime, terrorism, and national security.
The executive order said, ‘illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic,’ pointing to its extreme potency and the scale of deaths linked to its spread across the US.
The White House said the designation would ‘unleash every available tool’ against the criminal networks responsible for producing and trafficking fentanyl, warning that the substance could be weaponised for mass-casualty attacks by organised adversaries.
As per the order, hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their lives from fentanyl overdoses, without knowing they were taking the drug.
What is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid approved by the FDA for pain management and anesthesia. It is extremely potent, about 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin. Developed in 1959 and introduced medically in the 1960s, fentanyl is illegally manufactured in the United States, but both pharmaceutical and illicit forms are widely misused.
Illicitly produced fentanyl and its analogs have driven a sharp rise in overdose deaths. According to CDC data, deaths with synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) increased from nearly 2,600 annually in 2011-12 to more than 71,000 in 2021, totalling over 2,60,000 deaths from 2013-2021. The surge in deaths is allegedly linked to the trafficking and distribution of illicit fentanyl.
The illegal market of Fentanyl
Fentanyl is a fully synthetic opioid, approved for limited medical use but overwhelmingly produced illegally for the black market. Its lethality lies in its strength, as little as two milligrams can be fatal. US authorities have said that it makes it comparable to chemical agents designed to kill with minute exposure.
Fentanyl is frequently mixed with heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine, leaving users unaware they are ingesting something more powerful than expected.
US officials argue that the combination of concealment, potency, and ease of mass distribution increases fentanyl beyond conventional narcotics. The administration also claims that, in theory, the drug could be used deliberately in concentrated form to carry out terror-style attacks, although experts remain sceptical about that specific risk.
