President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction - a move that sharply expands the US government's powers to combat the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in America each year, Reuters reported.
The designation - unprecedented for a drug - shows Trump's intention to treat fentanyl not just as a public health crisis but as a national security threat comparable to chemical warfare.
It allows the Pentagon to assist law enforcement and allows intelligence agencies to use against drug traffickers tools normally reserved for countering the proliferation of weapons.
“We are officially classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction - which it is,” Trump said at a White House event honoring service members tasked with helping secure the U.S. southern border with Mexico. "They are trying to drug our country," he added.
"Illegal fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a drug," Trump's executive order said.
Trump's designation of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year opened the door to military action against them. Since early September, the United States has carried out more than 20 strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans, killing more than 80 people.