Attorney General Daniel Cameron has joined a bipartisan coalition of 18 attorneys general in urging President Joe Biden to classify the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD).
“Fentanyl overdoses have already claimed the lives of far too many Kentuckians, and we want to ensure bad actors do not further weaponize this substance to harm Kentuckians and Americans,” Cameron said. “We’ve called on the Biden Administration to declare fentanyl a Weapon of Mass Destruction. I hope the president heeds our advice and takes immediate action to equip law enforcement with more tools to protect Kentuckians from this highly lethal substance.”
This action would require the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration to coordinate a response with other agencies, including the Department of Defense; as opposed to the federal government treating the substance as a narcotics control problem.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest report, more than 75,000 Americans died from overdose of synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, in the 12-month period ending in February 2022. Since then, the amount of fentanyl seized could kill every man, woman, and child in the country more than 11 times, according to the attorney general’s office.
“The attorneys general are deeply troubled by the threat this substance poses to the nation. Due to the low cost of production, inherent lethality, and vast availability, fentanyl is an ideal chemical weapon for bad actors,” officials said.
The attorneys general wrote in their letter to Biden: “Just two milligrams of fentanyl are needed to kill an adult, and it can easily be placed in other substances. In fact, it already is, according to reports, as at least one-third of illicitly manufactured pills are contaminated with fentanyl. The threat of a state enemy using this drug to do harm to the American people cannot be understated.”
To read the full letter, click here.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
