Executive order aims to combat rising fentanyl crisis in the U.S.

Last month, the White House issued an executive order designating illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction and tonight local lawmakers are weighing in. The order claims fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic. It says just two milligrams and almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to about 10 to 15 grains of table salt can be a lethal dose. The White House says the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl are primarily carried out by organized criminal criminal networks and pose a threat to national security. The designation means the pentagon could assist the Justice Department by providing the Department of Defense assets to help enforce criminal laws related to fentanyl. You have to have the enforcement piece. You also need the educational piece and you also need the counseling piece. So when people are ready uh to say I'm finished, I'm off of fentanyl or whatever. I need a bed treatment on demand started in probably 1976. So we have that that ability. Drug Enforcement Administration says more than 107,000 people died from a drug overdose in the US in 2023 and nearly 70% of those deaths were attributed to opioids like fentanyl.