President Donald Trump has seemingly reignited the failed war on drugs on Monday night, Dec. 15, when he signed a new executive order designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
Likening the drug to a chemical weapon, Trump’s executive order made claims that “foreign terrorist organizations and cartels” producing fentanyl use funds to carry out “assassinations, terrorist acts and insurgencies around the world.”
It also claimed that hundreds of thousands of Americans overdose using the drug every year.
“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,” said Trump’s executive order.
Experts who provided data rebuking some of the claims were quick to weigh in on the matter.
U.S. overdose deaths decreased nearly 27% in 2024, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). The synthetic drug was responsible for an estimated 48,422 deaths.
There has only ever been one reported instance of fentanyl being weaponized, according to a report from NPR. The event, which occurred in 2002, involved the Russian government weaponizing fentanyl in gas form.
As for whether Trump’s executive order on fentanyl will have any impact on Americans struggling with addiction, experts remain unconvinced.
What does Trump’s executive order do?
Trump’s executive order classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction outlines five actions for relevant government agencies to take:
How many people die from fentanyl in the US?
Tens of thousands of Americans die every year from overdoses, and fentanyl is the leading cause, but last year saw a sizable decrease from 2023.
Overdose deaths involving opioids decreased from an estimated 83,140 in 2023 to 54,743 in 2024, according to data from the CDC.
Fentanyl was tied to the deaths of an estimated 48,422 people in the U.S. in 2024, but deaths can involve multiple drugs. Fentanyl can often and unknowingly be laced with another drug, causing a user to overdose without realizing they have taken it.
Fentanyl overdose deaths in 2025
The CDC’s 12-month count of drug overdose deaths between April 2024-April 2025 shows that the U.S. is expected to continue seeing the same decrease it saw last year. The number of reported fentanyl-related overdose deaths reported between April 2024-April 2025 was 42,233, according to the CDC.
Has fentanyl ever been weaponized in the US?
Not according to experts.
In the early 1990s, the U.S. investigated the use of fentanyl as an incapacitating agent but scrapped the program after it was unable to reduce the margin of safety to a level that could reliably incapacitate a target population without killing an unacceptable percentage of that population.
Russia had a similar project that it continued to develop—and use. In 2002, Russian security forces deployed an aerosol of synthetic opioids during an anti-terrorist intervention, according to the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD Center).
Forty terrorists seized the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow. The group took more than 800 people hostage and threatened to destroy the theater and kill the hostages unless Russia agreed to end its military campaign in Chechnya.
After a standoff lasting several days, Russian security forces pumped the aerosolized combination of fentanyl analogues into the theater, resulting in the death of the terrorists and approximately 130 of the hostages.
Why wasn’t fentanyl classified as a weapon of mass destruction before?
Trump’s idea of classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction isn’t a new one. It’s an idea that has been tossed around and ultimately aside because experts agreed that there was no need, or benefit, to doing so.
Experts often think about the idea in two parts, according to WMD Center.
First, can fentanyl be weaponized in such a way that it could kill a large number of people—and would someone actually go through with weaponizing and using it?
Secondly, what’s the benefit of classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction? Is it a symbolic gesture or would it enable significant change to happen?
What is fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is significantly more potent than similar drugs. It is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the CDC.
The government categorizes fentanyl as either pharmaceutical or illicit.
Pharmaceutical fentanyl is prescribed by doctors for severe pain management and is highly monitored. It can come in forms like transdermal patches or lozenges.
Illicit fentanyl is manufactured illegally and more commonly found in powder form or pills. It can be smoked, snorted, injected or ingested, according to the CDC.
Why is fentanyl so addictive?
Fentanyl is highly addictive as it can ease pain and produce euphoric feelings. Studies have shown that taking the drug can lead to other changes in mood and thinking that reinforces the desire to take more of the drug.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Fentanyl designated as a weapon of mass destruction. What does it mean?
Reporting by Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
