KENTUCKY — Attorney General Daniel Cameron joined a bipartisan coalition of 18 U.S. attorneys general that signed a letter this month urging President Joe Biden to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid known to be deadly in doses as small as two milligrams. In their letter, the attorneys general are calling on Biden to respond to the record spike in overdose deaths that has been largely fueled by fentanyl.

Naming the substance as a WMD would enable the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration to coordinate with other agencies like the Department of Defense to respond to the crisis, the coalition said in its letter. As it stands now, the substance's streak of lethality in the U.S. is being treated as a drug control problem.

Cameron signed on to the letter on Thursday, stressing his "deep concern" with the threat that fentanyl poses to the U.S.

"Fentanyl overdoses have already claimed the lives of far too many Kentuckians, and we want to ensure bad actors do not further weaponize this substance to harm Kentuckians and Americans," Cameron said in a press release.

Over 75,000 Americans died from overdose of synthetic opioids in the 12-month period ending in February 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest report.

Nestled in the Appalachia region, Kentucky has essentially been ground zero for the opioid epidemic. The latest report from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy showed 2,250 people died from a drug overdose last year, a nearly 15% increase from 2020. Fentanyl was involved in over 70% of those deaths. 

The substance is deadly in microscopic amounts. In their letter, the attorneys general warn that based on its low production cost, high lethality and widespread availability, fentanyl is "an ideal chemical weapon for bad actors."

“Just two milligrams of fentanyl are needed to kill an adult, and it can easily be placed in other substances. In fact, it already is... at least one-third of illicitly manufactured pills are contaminated with fentanyl," the coalition said. "The threat of a state enemy using this drug to do harm to the American people cannot be understated.”

Cameron was joined by attorneys general from Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Guam, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia in signing the letter.