This week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, to be classified as a weapon of mass destruction.
“Given how many Americans are being murdered, the whole federal government and every tactic and capability that we have should be utilized to stop the death and destruction that fentanyl is causing,” she said in the letter. “Designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction would require the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration to coordinate with other agencies or parts of agencies including the Department of Defense about fentanyl.”
According to a press release from Moody, she decided to contact the president in the wake of Florida “mass overdose” incidents.
“Last Tuesday, in Tampa, police responded to a convenience store where seven individuals were found unresponsive after consuming drugs laced with fentanyl and a veterinary tranquilizer,” said the press release. “Over the recent Fourth of July weekend in Gadsden County, at least 19 people overdosed on fentanyl. Back in March, five West Point cadets overdosed on cocaine mixed with fentanyl while on spring break in Wilton Manors—exposing a first responder who also overdosed attempting to resuscitate the cadets.”
Last Friday, the Drug Enforcement Administration said in an announcement that Synthetic opioid mass-overdose events, characterized as three or more overdoses occurring close in time and at the same location, have happened in at least three Florida counties in the last two weeks.
“The DEA has determined that just 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose,” said the administration. Although fentanyl is powerful, its effects can still be countered with naloxone and merely touching the substance will not result in an overdose, as it needs to be introduced to the bloodstream or a mucous membrane, according to the National Harm Reduction Coalition.
Fentanyl, a common synthetic opioid, is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. It was developed as a pain management drug for cancer patients. Illicit fentanyl found in the U.S. is typically made in China.
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, 71,238 people in the U.S. died from synthetic opioid overdoses in 2021, compared to 57,834 in 2020.
Audacy reported on rising deaths related to fentanyl in the U.S. last year and spoke to two families who lost members due to synthetic opioid overdoses, as well as Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health. She said fentanyl is much stronger than many users expect and acts faster than they expect. Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl can be found in knock-off prescription pills as well as street drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine, she added.
Both families Audacy contacted wanted fentanyl to be classified as a weapon of mass destruction.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “a weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, or other device that is intended to harm a large number of people.”
In her letter, Moody said “there is not serious dispute that fentanyl could be weaponized causing a mass casualty event.” She cited a 2002 event where the Russian military allegedly “deployed an aerosolized form of fentanyl to incapacitate terrorists holding hostages in a Moscow theater,” with gas also killing more than 120 of the hostages, per a Congressional Research Service report.
“Border patrol has seized enough fentanyl to the kill the entire American population many times over. With that in mind, and the recent mass overdose events in Hillsborough and Gadsden counties, I am demanding President Biden classify illicit fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction,” said Moody. “The federal government already works to disrupt the supply chains of other chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons—it’s not hard to imagine that similar tactics could be used to reduce the flow of illicit fentanyl into the U.S. through cartels in Mexico – and save countless American lives.”
Previously, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the DHS have considered designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, Moody added. Last month, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) introduced legislation to make the drug a weapon of mass destruction.
However, Gary Rasicot, acting assistant secretary for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, this week advised caution regarding the proposal, according to The Hill.
“Any declaration of fentanyl as a WMD, I think you have to carefully consider that because there are legitimate medical uses for fentanyl,” he said. Rasicot also warned against diverting “limited” WMD resources into a “counternarcotics arena.”
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