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U.S. Designates Fentanyl as Weapon of Mass Destruction; Policy Draws Expert Scrutiny

On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order classifying the street drug fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD). The order stated that "The manufacture and distribution of fentanyl, primarily performed by organized criminal networks, threatens our national security and fuels lawlessness in our hemisphere and at our borders."

During an Oval Office event, President Trump asserted that fentanyl has caused more American fatalities than several U.S. wars, stating, "Two to three hundred thousand people die every year, that we know of, so we're formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction."

Statistical Discrepancies on Fentanyl Fatalities

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported approximately 48,000 fentanyl-related deaths in the U.S. last year, indicating a 27% decrease from the previous year.

Expert Perspectives on WMD Designation

Experts have questioned the practical application of fentanyl as a WMD. A 2019 report by the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction at the National Defense University concluded, "It is not evident that there is any basis or need for, or net benefit to, officially designating fentanyl compounds as weapons of mass destruction." Globally, only one documented instance of weaponized fentanyl gas occurred in 2002, perpetrated by the Russian government; no such cases have been reported in the U.S.

Jeffrey Singer, a physician and street drug expert at the Cato Institute, indicated that U.S. fentanyl deaths stem from widespread opioid addiction rather than deliberate weaponization by cartels. Most drug policy experts also suggest that a WMD designation is unlikely to reduce the street drug supply or slow overdose deaths in the U.S.

Escalation of the Anti-Drug Campaign

This executive order is part of a broader militarization of the U.S. anti-drug campaign, which includes military strikes on suspected drug-running vessels and the reclassification of cartels as terrorist organizations.

According to an NPR analysis, the U.S. military has conducted at least 22 attacks on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific near Venezuela this year, resulting in over 80 fatalities. President Trump stated that these strikes contribute to American safety, asserting, "Every boat that gets hit, we save 25,000 American lives and when you view it that way, you don't mind."

However, experts on criminal cartels and drug trafficking, such as Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution, argue that military strikes on speedboats are likely to have minimal impact on U.S. overdose deaths or the overall flow of drugs. Felbab-Brown noted that fentanyl, which accounts for the majority of U.S. drug deaths, is not primarily produced in Venezuela or trafficked by the targeted boats in the Caribbean, which are largely involved in cocaine trafficking, often destined for countries other than the United States. Singer further cautioned that increased risk for cartels could lead them to shift production towards more potent and easily smuggled synthetic substances like fentanyl, methamphetamines, and nitazenes.

The Trump administration's national security strategy, released last month, prioritized the fight against "narco-terrorists," advocating for "the use of lethal force to replace the failed law enforcement-only strategy."

Disputed Claims and Conflicting Actions

Critics have raised concerns regarding the factual basis for some claims. For example, President Trump previously cited "300 million people died last year from drugs," a figure at odds with provisional CDC data indicating approximately 76,000 overall drug overdose fatalities in the U.S. in a 12-month period, with a decline observed since at least 2023. Provisional CDC data for 2024 reported around 22,000 U.S. cocaine-related deaths, a notable decrease from the prior year.

Furthermore, Felbab-Brown and Singer have highlighted a perceived contradiction between a "get tough" military approach and the Trump administration's actions regarding pardons for high-level drug traffickers and corrupt officials. Instances cited include:

The pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted on drug trafficking and weapons charges. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) described this action as "shocking," suggesting it indicated a lack of concern for narco-trafficking.
Pardons for the former leader of the Gangster Disciples drug gang and the creator of the Silk Road criminal website.
The return of key MS-13 drug gang informants to El Salvador.
The release of former Mexican military official Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda from U.S. custody, with all charges dropped, despite evidence of ties to a major Mexican drug cartel.

President Trump, when asked about the Hernández pardon, suggested without providing evidence that the prosecution was politically motivated, stating, "There are many people fighting for Honduras, very good people that I know, and they think he was treated horribly, and they asked me to do it, and I said I'll do it."

Diverse Views on Policy Effectiveness

Andrés Martínez-Fernández of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative drug policy expert, supported the "drastic action" and the designation of cartels as terrorist organizations, viewing military action and designations as "necessary to confront these threats." He acknowledged concerns about pardons as "fair, to a degree" but suggested they could be used to leverage better cooperation from Western Hemisphere governments.

Felbab-Brown also acknowledged that the threat of tariffs and the terrorist designation of cartels had pressured some foreign leaders, including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, into more aggressive anti-narcotics cooperation, though she anticipated minimal overall impact on drug trafficking.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly defended the military strikes, stating that "any boat bringing deadly poison to our shores has the potential to kill 25,000 Americans or more." Attorney General Pam Bondi previously claimed during a cabinet meeting that federal drug seizures in the first hundred days of Trump's second term had "saved... 258 million American lives," an assertion drug policy researchers described as highly exaggerated.