Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced on Wednesday that they are leading a bipartisan coalition of 18 attorney generals demanding that President Joe Biden classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. Moody explained that she had already made such a request to President Joe Biden in July, but did not receive a response. She has now been joined by 17 attorney generals from both the Republican and Democratic parties.
"Treating this solely as a narcotics control problem has failed to curb the proliferation of increasing amounts of chemicals that can cause a mass casualty event. Your own DEA Administrator has called fentanyl 'the deadliest threat [the DEA] ha[s] ever seen.' We should treat it as such, thus bold action must be taken," the AGs wrote in a statement.
The attorney generals have described to the press that the drug is claiming a record number of lives across the country and continues to flow freely across the southwest border. "In July alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 2,100 pounds of this substance; enough to kill nearly 500 million Americans. Because of the prevalence and low cost of production, there is concern that bad people are weaponizing fentanyl," prosecutors reported.
Moody also held a security briefing Thursday with former federal drug enforcement officials, Families Against Fentanyl and law enforcement leaders to discuss the growing threat posed by the substance. The Attorney General reiterates the need for Homeland Security's involvement as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in collaboration with other agencies, and with the Department of Defense, "rather than the federal government simply treating the substance as a narcotics control problem."
We must not stand by idly
A letter signed by the 18 attorney generals reiterated the urgency of doing something to combat the entry of fentanyl into the country:
We must not stand idly by until a terrorist decides to inflict harm using this substance on a large group of Americans; our fellow Americans are already dying from this poison. We cannot wait for a tragedy to occur when proactive steps can be taken now to preserve American lives. We urge you to take immediate and decisive action and declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.
Fentanyl, a weapon of mass destruction
"We are aware of scenarios that different federal and state agencies have considered utilizing and causing mass casualty events. Just two milligrams of fentanyl is needed to kill an adult, and it can easily be placed in other substances," the AGs said. They have also argued that fentanyl has already been used as a weapon:
The Russian military used it to end a hostage crisis two decades ago, killing more than 120 hostages in the process.
According to information published in Just the News, fentanyl is the leading cause of death for adults in the United States between the ages of 18 and 45. In 2020, 77% of all teen overdose deaths involved fentanyl. Fentanyl has become the narcotic of choice for traffickers entering the country from Mexico.
