“US President Donald Trump signed an executive order classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Donald Trump. Photo: Getty Images Source: Politico, press service White House
Verbatim White House: “President Trump will not rest until the cartels are dismantled, illegal fentanyl is eradicated from America’s streets, and every family is protected from this chemical weapon.”
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Details: During the signing of the executive order in the Oval Office, Trump said that the amount of drugs entering the United States by sea has decreased by 94 percent. According to him, drug flows are “a direct military threat to the United States of America.”
In particular, the decree emphasizes the extreme danger of fentanyl. According to US authorities, fentanyl kills tens of thousands of people every year.
Politico notes that declaring the drug a weapon of mass destruction is an unprecedented step. However, there were discussions about such a classification before. In particular, similar proposals were heard during the administration of the 46th US President Joseph Biden. Proponents of this approach have pointed out that even microscopic doses of fentanyl can quickly kill large numbers of people through overdose.
Fentanyl mainly enters the United States through Mexico, where drug cartels manufacture it using components imported from China. Fentanyl production is also growing in Southeast Asian countries, namely Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. The drug is easily manufactured in underground laboratories, which complicates the fight against it.
Prehistory:
- The head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel said that China has agreed to a plan to end chemical productionrelated to fentanyl, as part of an agreement with the administration of US President Donald Trump on the fight against opioids.
- On October 31, US President Donald Trump announced that will eliminate all tariffs on Chinese goodsrelated to fentanyl, if Beijing tightens controls on exports of the drug and the chemicals used to make it.
- In early November, China suspended the ban for the export of some dual purpose materials to the USA. In addition, the Ministry of Commerce of China announced that the country will contribute changes to the list of chemical substanceswhich are drug precursors, and will require licenses to export certain chemicals to the US, Canada and Mexico.