Florida AG calls on Biden, Congress to declare fentanyl a WMD

Florida Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody called on President Joe Biden to urge Congress to declare illegal fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction or use executive action to the same end.

"Given how many Americans are being murdered, the whole federal government and every tactic and capability that we have should be utilized to stop the death and destruction that fentanyl is causing," she wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden, which Fox News obtained.

Drug cartels are increasingly shipping the deadly drug across the southern border amid an immigration crisis that has rendered the nation's frontiers porous. U.S. Customs and Border Protection last week seized over 100 pounds of fentanyl hidden in food containers, enough to potentially kill 20 million people. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that one kilogram of fentanyl could potentially kill 500,000 people.

"There is enough fentanyl coming over the border to kill every American multiple times over. In fact, I would say that we're under a terrorist chemical attack. Over 100,000 of our youth died last year from drug overdoses," Illinois GOP Rep. Mary Miller told Just the News on Thursday.

The movement to declare fentanyl a WMD has some bipartisan support. Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in June introduced a measure in the House to reclassify the drug.

“The fentanyl crisis is killing our kids and devastating our communities," Ryan said at the time, per a press release from Families against Fentanyl. "There is not a corner of Ohio that has not been affected by this epidemic in some way."

“We cannot look away as this crisis worsens. It’s time we take a whole-of-government approach to fight it. That means using every resource we have at our disposal to get this off the streets and out of our neighborhoods," he continued.

FAF on Monday lauded Moody's letter, saying “Families Against Fentanyl welcomes Attorney General Moody’s urgent call to have illicit fentanyl declared a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and applaud her for taking this powerful stand."

“WMD designation currently has bipartisan support in Congress. With A.G. Moody’s announcement today, the movement continues to grow," Families Against Fentanyl founder James Rauh said.