The New 'Weapon of Mass Destruction'

"For months, President Donald Trump's crusade against the drug trade has carried the threat of violence: "I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country," he said in October. Yesterday, hours before his administration announced that the United States had conducted three more strikes on alleged drug boats, he designated fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction -a move that could help him further justify the deadly conflict."

"Under U.S. law, the definition of a WMD is broad enough to encompass incendiary bombs, rockets, grenades, biological agents, toxins, and other weapons that "can have a large-scale impact on people, property, or infrastructure." Lawmakers have pushed to classify fentanyl as a WMD in the past; the drug belongs to the category of synthetic opioids, which accounted for roughly 48,000 deaths in the U.S. last year (approximately 60 percent of all overdose deaths)."

"On his first day of his second term in office, Trump signed an executive order designating certain drug cartels as terrorist organizations. And since early September, the U.S. has launched 25 known attacks against boats that officials have claimed were carrying illicit drugs; at least 95 people have been killed, and at least one strike may have been a war crime."

President Donald Trump designated fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, a change that could broaden legal and military authority to target drug traffickers. U.S. law defines WMDs broadly enough to include toxins and agents capable of large-scale impacts on people, property, or infrastructure. Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl caused roughly 48,000 U.S. deaths last year, about 60 percent of overdose fatalities. The administration has conducted repeated strikes on vessels alleged to carry illicit drugs, with at least 25 known attacks since September and at least 95 reported dead. An executive order labels certain cartels as terrorist organizations.

Read at The Atlantic