OKLAHOMA CITY —Attorney General John O’Connor is joining a multistate effort urging President Biden to classify fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction. The 18-state bipartisan coalition, led by Florida Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody and Connecticut Democrat Attorney General William Tong, demands the president take decisive action in response to the record increase in overdose deaths related to the lethal substance nationwide.
More than 75,000 Americans died from overdose of synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, in the 12-month period ending in February 2022. This substance is now the number one killer of adults aged 18-45. Many Oklahomans, including a six-year-old child, have been killed by fentanyl, in the last year.
“Fentanyl is cheap to produce, deadly in very small amounts, and is everywhere. This is a chemical weapon,” said Attorney General O’Connor. “The problem increased dramatically when the Biden administration opened our southern border. Now fentanyl is pouring into the United States and devastating entire communities. President Biden needs to take swift action to classify fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction and to cut off the source. We have to fight this deadly epidemic.”
In a letter sent today, Attorney General O’Connor joins the other attorneys general in calling for the president to name fentanyl a WMD. This action would require the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration to coordinate a response with other agencies, including the Department of Defense. As it is now, the Biden administration only treats the substance as a narcotics control problem.
“Just two milligrams of fentanyl is needed to kill an adult, and it can easily be placed in other substances. In fact, it already is—according to reports, at least one-third of illicitly manufactured pills are contaminated with fentanyl. The threat of a state enemy using this drug to do harm to the American people cannot be understated,” the attorneys general state in the letter to the President.
Attorney General O’Connor joins the attorneys general of the following states and territories in signing the letter: Florida, Connecticut, Arkansas, Guam, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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