Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) introduced a bill Monday that would classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD).
The bill would direct the assistant secretary in charge of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to treat fentanyl as a WMD.
Boebert told Fox News in an interview that the bill would allow DHS, the Justice and Defense departments, and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to better coordinate their efforts to “eliminate the threat posed by this deadly substance.”
The lawmaker said in an email to The Hill that almost everyone she talks to in Colorado knows someone who has died from fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is America’s silent killer and is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45,” she said. “The saddest thing about the fentanyl crisis is that it is preventable.”
Nine other House Republicans have co-sponsored the legislation.
Boebert told Fox News her bill would not target legally prescribed fentanyl. Doctors can prescribe the drug as a treatment for severe pain, but illicitly manufactured fentanyl can be deadly even in small doses.
Fentanyl can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and up to 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is often mixed with other drugs such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine and made into pills that resemble other prescription opioids.
More than 150 people die every day from overdoses resulting from opioids such as fentanyl, according to the CDC.
Boebert told The Hill the “vast majority” of fentanyl comes into the country across the southern border. A 2020 DEA report stated that Mexico and China are the primary source countries of fentanyl into the United States.
A CWMD memorandum in 2019 noted that the office could use its capabilities to address fentanyl under the classification of a WMD. A Congressional Research Service report released in March found that formally designating fentanyl as such may not be necessary for additional executive branch action on the issue, but Congress may pass legislation to address “perceived shortcomings” in the federal government’s approach to addressing the drug.
— Updated at 2:46 p.m.