'About time!': Pres. Trump’s executive order reclassifying fentanyl praised by local mother

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — The federal government is taking a new approach to fentanyl. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reclassifying the drug as a weapon of mass destruction.

Lauri Badura, founder of Saving Others for Archie, lost her 19-year-old son Archie over 10 years ago to an accidental fentanyl overdose.

"It was just the most devastating thing," Lauri said.

“Back in 2014, no one even knew the word fentanyl. It was a substance he had snorted, and it was laced,” she added.

When Lauri heard about the executive order, she said she was thrilled.

"Fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction. This is something that is so potent, that can take out an entire city, and it should be treated as that, a war," she said.

Lauri has spent years advocating for change, starting her organization, Saving Others for Archie, and traveling to Washington, D.C., pushing legislation to tackle fentanyl. The work was often disappointing.

"How can it be politics when this is about lives? It hurt, it was a lot of tears every time I flew back and had a lump in my throat, going I can’t believe it," she said.

This past summer, Lauri worked to get the HALT Fentanyl Act passed.

"About time! I mean this is not one party or another, this is our livelihood as humanity," she said.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said, "It’s always been a call of action. The question is what does this mean for the federal government in tackling this issue right here within our country."

Lauri added that diplomacy won’t solve the problem, calling fentanyl an epidemic that demands action.

"We have to fight. This is an epidemic that hopefully, we look back on and say, boy, why didn't we start earlier?" she said.

Critics argue the Trump administration is using the declaration to increase military action. 

The administration is facing questions over deadly strikes on alleged boats near Venezuela. Experts say the majority of fentanyl that enters the U.S. is manufactured in Mexico, an ally.