Newly inaugurated Gov. Patrick Morrisey started off his second day with a list of executive orders, among those, he signed a letter to the congressional delegation to declare fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. A weapon of mass destruction is defined by U.S. law as a destructive device, a weapon that is made to cause death or injury by using toxic or poisonous chemicals. Treating illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction would allow the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense to work together to administer more resources with the goal of preventing the distribution and production of fentanyl.