Policy Forum 

# Worse than Futile: What’s Wrong with Using the U.S. Military to Counter Fentanyl 

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Date and Time 

August 18, 2023 3 - 4:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 

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##### Featuring 

[![jeff-singer-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-05/jeff-singer-cropped.jpg?itok=G_0nEnx7)](/people/jeffrey-singer) 

[Jeffrey A. Singer](/people/jeffrey-singer)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

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](https://x.com/dr4liberty) [ 

](mailto:jsinger@cato.org) 

![Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-07/g-correa-cabrera.jpeg?itok=0nCSIP2R) 

Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera 

Professor, George Mason University

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](https://twitter.com/GCorreaCabrera) 

![Brian Finucane headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-07/Brian-Finucane.png?itok=4Wa4fc-P) 

Brian Finucane 

Senior Adviser, U.S. Program, Crisis Group

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](https://twitter.com/BCFinucane) 

[![Justin Logan cropped portrait new](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-08/Justin-Logan-cropped.jpg?itok=1xXiDWfG)](/people/justin-logan) 

[Justin Logan](/people/justin-logan)

Director of Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute

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](https://x.com/JustinTLogan) [ 

](mailto:jlogan@cato.org) 

Recent legislation in Congress has proposed designating Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations; pushing the administration to designate fentanyl precursor chemicals as chemical weapons; and even authorizing the use of military force in Mexico. As the fentanyl crisis persists in the United States, several Republican presidential candidates have echoed these calls for using the U.S. military to combat fentanyl. What would these bills and proposals do, practically? What are the likely consequences of using the U.S. military in this way? And what policies hold greater hope of lessening the harm of fentanyl inside the United States? Please join our panel for an examination of these and other pressing questions surrounding proposals for militarizing the drug war at the border. A happy hour reception will follow.

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