Fentanyl is no longer just America’s silent killer—it’s now being flagged as a threat to national security.
According to Just the News, in December 2025, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense David F. Lasseter warned that the growing global spread of illicit fentanyl poses an increasingly serious risk that the synthetic opioid could be turned into a chemical weapon by terrorists or hostile nations.
Lasseter voiced strong support for President Donald Trump’s decision to officially designate fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, saying it equips the U.S. with critical tools to fight narco-traffickers and helps deter future mass casualty attacks involving this powerful synthetic compound.
Fentanyl’s Dark Potential as a Weapon
Illicit fentanyl and its precursor chemicals are now widely available across the globe, leading top security experts like Lasseter to sound off about their potential for weaponization. With small amounts being deadly, it doesn’t take a vivid imagination to envision what bad actors could do with a few grams of this substance in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Look, this is a scourge on American society, but it also has really significant impacts if it is weaponized,” Lasseter said, pointing to the explosion of synthetic opioid trafficking as both a public health crisis and a national security risk.
Lasseter reminded the public of a chilling historical example: a 2002 hostage crisis in a Moscow theater, where Russian forces deployed a fentanyl analog gas in an attempt to subdue terrorists. While the operation killed the militants, it also resulted in the deaths of 130 hostages due to the potency of the chemical.
Security Concerns Rooted in Real Events
“So what did they do? They used a fentanyl analog. They pumped it through the ventilation system,” Lasseter said, referencing the Russian strategy to neutralize the threat. “But what happened... they ended up [with] about 130 hostages dead because of the impact and the severity of this chemical.”
Skeptics may scoff at worst-case scenarios, but the numbers don’t lie. As Lasseter noted, “You know, we used to hold these up in the Pentagon. It’s a sugar packet, five grams or so (of fentanyl) that can kill hundreds of people if weaponized.” That visual should sober anyone still in denial. The threat isn’t limited to the air either. Lasseter warned that aerosolized fentanyl could be deployed to poison water or food supplies, creating mass casualties before anyone even knows what hit them.
Legal Loopholes and Global Pressure Mount
The chemical isn’t explicitly listed in the Chemical Weapons Convention. That absence has raised eyebrows among defense experts. But Lasseter emphasized that the treaty’s “general purpose criterion” would still consider any mass-casualty deployment of fentanyl a violation.
In other words, loophole or not, using fentanyl to harm civilians still breaks international law—it just hasn’t been codified yet. That may change soon thanks to renewed pressure sparked by Trump’s WMD designation and prior advocacy by countries like Australia and Switzerland. “The President took a big stand here, and I think he made the right choice,” Lasseter added, noting that this move could finally push international authorities to put aerosolized central nervous system–acting agents on the banned list.
Think Tank Warnings Finally Gaining Traction
This isn’t the first time the alarm bells have gone off. A 2019 report by the National Defense University already called for revisions to the Chemical Weapons Convention to address fentanyl’s potential for weaponization. While arms policy experts took notice, no significant action followed—until now.
The report stated bluntly: “It is clear that there is at least a risk that fentanyl compounds could be used as chemical weapons.” That report also urged the Department of Defense to develop countermeasures, both material and strategic, in case the threat becomes reality. Lasseter called out the timeliness of that earlier analysis, saying the situation today is even more urgent given the broad availability of fentanyl ingredients and the technical ease with which rogue actors could weaponize the substance.
Empowering U.S. Agencies and Shifting the Debate
Trump’s declaration doesn’t just send a message to foreign adversaries—it puts American agencies in a stronger position when it comes to tracking precursor chemicals and disrupting the trade routes that fuel both the overdose epidemic and simmering WMD threats.
“If you think about that from a weaponization standpoint,” Lasseter said, “if an aerosolized form like that was used to poison water supplies or even food, it is significant.” He didn’t mince words. The risk is no longer hypothetical—it’s baked into today’s drug trade. By officially labeling fentanyl a WMD, the U.S. may also reinvigorate global cooperation on this front. Criminal cartels making billions from the suffering of others may soon find themselves hunted not just for drug crimes, but for crimes against humanity.
