Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody joined Newsmax on Wednesday to explain why she is urging President Joe Biden to declare illicit fentanyl a ''weapon of mass destruction'' (WMD).
On ''The Record With Greta Van Susteren,'' Moody, a Republican, said she sent a letter to Biden earlier this week following a series of deaths in Florida and around the country as a result of fentanyl-laced drugs.
The letter ''has really set off a firestorm of folks speaking out, stepping up, saying they've lost loved ones,'' Moody said. ''Even Families Against Fentanyl has encouraged this request. They understand we have hit levels ... we have never seen before.''
Moody suggested that classifying illicit fentanyl as a WMD ''allows other agencies and resources to start working along without traditional agencies that go after illicit substances.'' The move could add the Department of Defense to the mix as well.
''DOD could step in and work with these agencies and direct not only bodies, but additional resources to target this beginning in Mexico,'' the Florida state prosecutor outlined.
''Because of the wide-open border, we're seeing since Biden took office up to 10 times the American population would die as a result of the amount of fentanyl,'' she added.
In a Monday press release, Moody's office pointed out that the Homeland Security and Defense departments had already considered declaring illicit fentanyl a WMD in 2019.
The office cited a memo from former DHS official James McDonnell stating that the drug's ''high toxicity and increasing availability are attractive to threat actors seeking non-conventional materials for a chemical weapons attack.''
''The federal government already works to disrupt the supply chains of other chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons — it's not hard to imagine that similar tactics could be used to reduce the flow of illicit fentanyl into the U.S. through cartels in Mexico — and save countless American lives,'' Moody said in a statement.
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!