Trump signs executive order classifying fentanyl as 'weapon of mass destruction'
Washington, Dec 16: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order, classifying fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction".
The order was signed in the Oval Office on Monday in the presence of Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen Dan Caine, White House border czar Tom Homan and other top military officials.
Trump says his administration is “formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, which is what it is. No bomb does what this is doing”.
It was not immediately clear how the new designation would affect administration policy or what the legal implications would be for those impacted by fentanyl use or drug traffickers.
The term weapon of mass destruction has typically referred to nuclear, biological, chemical or kinetic threats capable of causing overwhelming and lasting damage to a population, infrastructure or environment.
The term has also been hotly debated in American politics since the US invasion of Iraq.
The order instructs the State and Treasury departments to pursue the financial assets of and sanctions on financial institutions and groups involved in fentanyl trafficking. It also calls for greater cooperation between the Pentagon and Justice Department on fentanyl and drug trafficking issues.
The order directs the homeland security secretary to “identify threat networks related to fentanyl smuggling” by using intelligence resources that in the past were devoted to the detection of other weapons of mass destruction.
The federal government by law has a wide range of national security and law enforcement capabilities to combat drug smuggling, including asset forfeiture, targeted arrests and surveillance of criminal organisations.
The Trump administration's earlier this year designated some drug cartels as terror groups, a move that may unlock more coordination between the armed forces and domestic law enforcement but has been questioned by legal analysts over its scope and legality.
Trump also said his administration is considering changing how it treats marijuana.
"We are considering the idea because a lot of people want to see it,” the president said.
Trump had said in August that he was reviewing whether the federal government should reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Such a step could move the federal government closer to an approach already embraced by many states.
“We are looking at that very strongly,” Trump said at the White House.
