Dec. 15 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Monday designated illicit fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction" in an executive order.
The order goes beyond calling it a lethal drug because it can be weaponized to cause "concentrated, large-scale terror attacks by organized adversaries," according to the order.
"Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic," the order says. "Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose."
And because fentanyl is relatively cheap to manufacture, drug traffickers lace it with other drugs or even marijuana to increase potency and reduce costs. Fentanyl can be pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription medications, including oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), alprazolam (Xanax) and stimulants like Adderall.
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