"US President Donald Trump has issued a decree classifying fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction" a radical political term for a substance that has been silently killing people in large numbers for decades. "No bomb does what this is doing," Trump announced. He claimed that at least 200,000 to 300,000 people a year were dying as a result of using fentanyl."
"The recategorization by Trump means fentanyl is no longer solely regulated by health and criminal legislation. It is now also deemed to be a national security issue. The intelligence services and the military could, in principle, become more involved: for example, in combating drug cartels, or if someone is suspected of planning to use fentanyl in an attack. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video"
"In its 2019 study "Fentanyl as a Chemical Weapon," the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD) concluded that there did not appear to be "any basis or need for officially designating fentanyl compounds as weapons of mass destruction, at least for the Department of Defense." The CSWMD is located in the Institute for National Strategic Studies, a department of the National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, D.C., which is funded by the US Department of Defense."
A presidential decree classifies fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction," elevating it from solely a health and criminal matter to a national security concern. The president claimed vastly higher annual deaths than official public health figures, with CDC-recorded overdoses of more than 76,000 in 2023 and 48,422 in 2024, while European deaths remain in the low hundreds. The recategorization could expand the role of intelligence and the military in countering cartels or suspected attack plans. A 2019 CSWMD assessment found no clear basis for officially designating fentanyl compounds as weapons of mass destruction for the Department of Defense.
Read at www.dw.com
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