Dear Friend,

We have received questions about President Trump’s recent executive order declaring fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction and what it means. The order, signed on December 15th, opens the door to harsher criminal penalties and attempts to circumvent Congress's wartime authorities to advance Trump’s military action in Latin America. 

Over the last three months, the administration has killed 95 people in international waters via 25 strikes on boats. It has not provided Congress or the public any legal justification for these actions. With this executive order, the administration is attempting to justify the strikes. 

There’s no question fentanyl is a real crisis, and so many of us worry about its impact on our loved ones and communities. But this executive order makes the harms worse and ignores the solutions we already know work, like overdose prevention supports. It also potentially exposes people struggling with addiction—or people who share drugs—to life sentences or even the death penalty. 

What’s especially alarming is the timing. Just last year, overdose deaths dropped by nearly 27 percent. That progress didn’t happen by accident. It was the result of evidence-based addiction treatment, naloxone access, and overdose prevention programs reaching people who needed them. Yet at the same moment this administration is using our pain to justify war, it is gutting the funding that made those gains possible—like cutting nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, the largest source of addiction treatment funding. 

Federal law already treats fentanyl offenses harshly. Manufacturing or distributing even small amounts can carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison. This executive order goes further, escalating penalties in ways that are unlikely to stop overdoses but very likely to increase fear, incarceration, and prevent people from seeking help in an overdose emergency. 

At the Drug Policy Alliance, we advocate for proven health solutions that work. If the goal is to save lives, the path forward is clear. Reducing fentanyl deaths means reducing demand by expanding addiction treatment, investing in overdose prevention, and guaranteeing access to healthcare.  

Please share this email—or our Instagram slider—with your network so more people understand the real implications of this executive order.