An Executive Order issued on December 15, 2025 by White House, signed by the president Donald Trump designates fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). Fentanyl is a fully synthetic opioid, similar to morphine or heroin, which is extremely potent and addictive. While it is legally prescribed for severe pain, most fentanyl driving today’s overdose crisis is produced illicitly. On occasions this drug is mixed with some other drugs like some counterfeit pills to hide identity. There is a possibility that even a tiny amount can be fatal, it mainly depends on the health of the individual consuming it. Fentanyl overdoses that result in death can happen with exposure levels of under 0.00015 grams. Like other opioids, repeated use of fentanyl alters brain function, leading to strong dependence and continued use despite serious harm. This drug has a potency 50 times greater than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.Drug addiction is a disease that adversely affects a person’s brain and behaviour. People consume a wide range of substances as drugs many a times to cope with stress or emotions, including illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as legal substances like marijuana and nicotine. Any excessive habit to alcohol drinking also gets recognised drug addiction. In recent times, fentanyl is one such substance that has caused a major human tragedy in the United States (US). As per the US DEA (Drugs of Abuse) Administrator, the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-45, is fentanyl overdose. This addictive drug is responsible for nearly 70% of the US 107,000-plus drug overdose deaths in the year 2024. The US administration is undertaking various precautionary measures to diminish the availability of this drug. One of their major concerns has been to control the supply of the Chinese made fentanyl. For some years now, there has been a flow of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids and their precursors into the US from China. The diplomatic breakthrough in this regard came during 2023 with the formation of the joint US-China counter-narcotics working group. China appears to be proactive to assist the US on this issue.The US concerns around fentanyl are genuine and they need to continue efforts at all levels to ensure that their citizens do not get into any type of ‘fentanyl trap’. However, the motive behind calling fentanyl as WMD needs some investigation. It is not understood that how the US can unilaterally announce fentanyl as a WMD. Has it been done only to curb the flow of fentanyl in the US or there is something more it? Also, it is not clear that how by declaring fentanyl as WMD, would help the US authorities to reduce this ‘addiction’? Also read: Is the American Carnage About to Spread to Venezuela?There is no stranded definition of WMD. Broadly, the US military refers to WMD as: Chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons capable of a high order of destruction or causing mass casualties. This description of WMD is also universally recognised. More clarity in regards to WMDs could be obtained from the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), which is a legally binding global measure requiring all countries to stop non-state actors from getting WMDs. This resolution is not restricting itself to weapons only and also adds the weapon delivery systems like missiles, rockets and other unmanned systems capable of delivering weapons.It is obvious that fentanyl can be associated with chemical weapons because, in extremely high or aerosolised doses, it can incapacitate or kill large numbers of people. More so the risk comes from its extreme potency. Chemical weapons are primarily classified by their physiological effects on the human body and their legal status under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of 1993. This is an important international and most successful mechanism in eliminating entire classes of WMDs. This legally binding treaty is about prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons. The treaty mandated the states already having chemical weapons in their possession to destroy them under the supervision of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). This is an empowered body, which can undertake verification and industry inspections. Till date, total 193 states have joined this treaty mechanism. Currently, only Israel (signed but not ratified), Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan are not the part of this mechanism. As per this treaty architecture, various chemicals are grouped in two simple ways. By how they affect the body, they include nerve agents (like sarin and VX) that attack the nervous system, blister agents (like mustard gas) that burn the skin and lungs, blood agents (like hydrogen cyanide) that stop the body from using oxygen, and choking agents (like phosgene) that damage the lungs. By law, the OPCW classifies chemicals into three lists: Schedule 1 covers the most dangerous chemicals with almost no peaceful use, Schedule 2 includes risky chemicals with limited industrial uses, and Schedule 3 includes widely used industrial chemicals that could be misused. Chemical stockpiles are also grouped as Category 1 (Schedule 1 chemicals), Category 2 (other toxic chemicals), and Category 3 (empty weapons and delivery equipment). CWC does not identify fentanyl as a chemical weapons. The CWC does not classify fentanyl as a chemical weapon because it is primarily a pharmaceutical opioid with reasonable medical utility. Though, misuse of this toxic chemicals raises concerns, they are known to fall outside the CWC’s mandate.Trump has called fentanyl as a WMD and no other technical details are available. Another argument could be, to review the use of fentanyl under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC or BWC, 1972), a disarmament treaty mechanism banning biological and toxin weapons. Technically, fentanyl is classified as a potent synthetic opioid pain-relief substance and therefore cannot be identified as a toxin in a strict biological sense. Nevertheless, through semantic interpretation, since fentanyl can act as a poison when misused, it may be loosely viewed as a toxin too. However, the US may not be interested to use BTWC route, since this convention is sans verifications protocol and lacks legal cover. A bag of fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills. Photo: Drug Enforcement Administration/Flickr. Public domain.Interestingly, the Trump administration is not yet ready to subcategorise fentanyl as a chemical or bio-toxic weapons. They are sticking to mostly use of terminology WMD, since possibly it always them to maintain some opaqueness in their approach. There are some indicates that the Department of Justice has designated fentanyl as a chemical weapon, however nothing more is known beyond this. To his credit, it needs to be mentioned that Trump was keen to declare fentanyl as a WMD during Trump 1.0 itself. Though, internal power dynamics did not allow him to do so. However, today the situation is somewhat different. Beyond the stated goal of making the United States drug-free, such actions could also be aimed at pressuring states that are covertly involved in the drug trade, while signalling that heavy-handed tactics may be employed to curb this menace. The executive order issued by Trump does not specify what actions would be taken against the suppliers of fentanyl which is now WMD. Largely, labelling fentanyl as a WMD reflects the Trump administration’s wellnesses to opt for a saviour action against the drug peddler. Possibly, they want to bring a major policy change in regards to their drug policy. The idea could be to take a major action on the supply-side of the network involved in transiting the drugs. The action could even involve military strikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, and the designation of 15 criminal groups in Latin America as ‘foreign terrorist organizations.’The designation of fentanyl as a WMD could significantly increase penalties for drug trafficking in the US. Some states already allow the distribution of a lethal dose to be charged as homicide. The Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), a Mexican criminal syndicate remain the main suppliers of fentanyl to the US. It is important to note that, WMD-related crimes fall under federal jurisdiction, which could shift fentanyl cases from state to federal courts, lengthen sentences, reduce diversion through drug courts, and result in substantially higher incarceration rates.The WMD label also raises concerns about possible links to terrorism-related prosecutions. The WMD classification increases the legal scope for undertaking strict actions. As a result, the designation heightens the risk of more expansive and aggressive federal prosecutions in the future.By attaching a WMD designation to fentanyl, the Trump administration gets wider legal and political space to pursue a military action against various groups in Mexico. The US can manage to attack various directly and indirectly related supply chain networks and can also take action in states like Guatemala. The authorities can also push for enhance screening of cargo suspected of carrying fentanyl precursors. They can also act against the precursor networks say in China, as contributors to WMD proliferation or terrorism. Recently, the US agencies have begun targeting Venezuelan fishing vessels and oil tankers on assertions of drug trafficking. Donald Trump has repeatedly portrayed Venezuela as an illegitimate regime deeply involved in narcotics trade and has openly spoken about the possibility of military action against it. In this context, it is not unimaginable that he could argue that if drugs are equated with WMD, the US has the legal protection to intervene militarily in Venezuela. After all, the US previously invaded Iraq citing the threat posed by alleged WMDs!Ajey Lele is a researcher and is the author of the book Institutions That Shaped Modern India: ISRO.