A bag of evidence containing the synthetic opioid fentanyl disguised as Oxycodone is shown during a Fresno County Sheriff's Office press conference in 2020. (Craig Kohlruss/The Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
What they're saying:
"Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic," the order read. "Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose."
"Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses."
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President Trump signs 'halt fentanyl act'
President Trump signed the 'halt fentanyl act' on Wednesday. POTUS hosted families affected by the fentanyl epidemic for a bipartisan bill signing to close loopholes and increase prosecution charges of criminals trafficking fentanyl.
What does the executive order do?
Dig deeper:
The order directs federal agencies to step up fentanyl-related prosecutions, target the financial networks behind trafficking operations, and assess whether military resources should support law-enforcement efforts.
It also requires updated chemical-incident response plans to account for fentanyl threats and calls for intelligence agencies to treat fentanyl smuggling networks with the same scrutiny applied to WMD-related activity.
Officials say the move aims to combat the escalating national security risks posed by fentanyl production, trafficking, and potential weaponization.
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What is fentanyl?
Why you should care:
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as an analgesic (pain relief) and anesthetic.
It is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic.
In public, it can be referred to as: Apace, China Girl, China Town, Dance Fever, Friend, Goodfellas, Great Bear, He-Man, Jackpot, King Ivory, Murder 8, Poison and Tango & Cash.
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An overdose can cause stupor, changes in pupil size, clammy skin, cyanosis, coma, and respiratory failure leading to death.
Where does fentanyl come from?
Trump’s imposed tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China is partly aimed at combating the illicit flow of fentanyl into the U.S., where the opioid is blamed for some 70,000 overdose deaths annually.
The ingredients in fentanyl are largely produced by companies in China and used by pharmaceutical companies to make legal painkillers. But a portion of those chemicals is purchased by the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico.
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Cartels make the synthetic opioid in labs and then smuggle it into the U.S., largely at official land crossings in California and Arizona. The small amounts of fentanyl in any shipment — the drug is 50 times more potent than heroin — and its lack of odor, make detection and seizures extremely challenging.
Fentanyl is also made in Canada and smuggled into the U.S., but to a much lesser extent. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story appears to come from details contained in President Trump’s executive order, statements from federal officials, and background data provided by U.S. agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration. This story was reported from Los Angeles.