US President Trump signed an executive order on Monday classifying fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction,” a move that greatly expands the US government's authority to crack down on illegal traffic in this synthetic opioid. The drug causes tens of thousands of Americans to die of overdose every year. For narcotics, this characterization is unprecedented, and shows that Trump intends to view fentanyl as a national security threat equal to chemical warfare, rather than just a public health crisis. This classification intensified Trump's crackdown on “drug dumping gangs that insist on dumping drugs into America,” authorized the Pentagon to assist in enforcing the law, and allowed intelligence agencies to use methods commonly used to prevent the spread of weapons to crack down on drug trafficking. “We have officially classified fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction; it really is something like this,” Trump said at a White House event honoring soldiers who helped patrol the U.S.-Mexico border. “They are trying to invade our country with drugs.” “Illegal fentanyl is closer to chemical weapons than narcotics,” Trump said in the order.

US President Trump signed an executive order on Monday classifying fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction,” a move that greatly expands the US government's authority to crack down on illegal traffic in this synthetic opioid. The drug causes tens of thousands of Americans to die of overdose every year. For narcotics, this characterization is unprecedented, and shows that Trump intends to view fentanyl as a national security threat equal to chemical warfare, rather than just a public health crisis. This classification intensified Trump's crackdown on “drug dumping gangs that insist on dumping drugs into America,” authorized the Pentagon to assist in enforcing the law, and allowed intelligence agencies to use methods commonly used to prevent the spread of weapons to crack down on drug trafficking. “We have officially classified fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction; it really is something like this,” Trump said at a White House event honoring soldiers who helped patrol the U.S.-Mexico border. “They are trying to invade our country with drugs.” “Illegal fentanyl is closer to chemical weapons than narcotics,” Trump said in the order.