US President Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order declaring fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.
The drug and similar synthetic opioids have been blamed for tens of thousands of deaths in the US, with the toll rising past 48,000 in 2024.
"Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic," the executive order reads. "Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose."
The order added that the drug poses a threat to US national security and fuels "lawlessness" across the
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