US officials are considering designating fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo
The synthetic opioid, blamed in health surveys for surging drug overdose deaths in the United States, has for decades concerned national security officials because of its potential widespread lethality in terror attacks, and in recent months, officials from DHS and the Pentagon have met to discuss an official WMD designation as a tool to disrupt the drug's widespread availability on the black market, the memo says.
"There are other officially-designated WMDs that are made from easily obtainable items, like ricin, which is extracted from the castor bean, though weapons experts said the threat posed by fentanyl and its derivatives are more significant."It's as bad as it seems," said a government consultant who requested anonymity to discuss countering-WMD projects he has worked on.
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