Bradenton mother hopes new fentanyl classification will save lives

BRADENTON, Fla. — President Donald Trump recently signed an order to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, which the State Department defines as “a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, or other device that is intended to harm a large number of people.”

A Manatee County mother who lost her daughter to an accidental overdose believes this decision could prevent more deaths.

“It’s heartbreaking because my life, and our family’s life, are never going to be the same without her,” Nanette Cobb said about her daughter Nicolette, who she lost three years ago. 

She was just 24 years old when she died of fentanyl poisoning.

“She took one pill one time, and it killed her instantly,” Cobb said. “Nicolette was mourning the death of my mother. She had just died a couple days before. And talking with a friend online, said, ‘Oh, I have something that will help you with your mourning.’”

Cobb says that one pill contained seven nanograms of fentanyl per liter. She says two nanograms is enough to kill an adult man.

“I wish I could tell people that in time you feel better. It doesn’t. It gets worse,” Cobb said. “I miss her more and more each passing year that she doesn’t age, and I can’t share my life with her and her life with me,” she said.

She says she believes President Trump classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, along with increased emphasis on border security, will help keep fentanyl out of the U.S. and protect families.

“Well, I felt relief because I hope that other mothers won’t endure what I have to endure,” Cobb said. “That we get this off the streets and stop killing our children.”

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office is also fighting the opioid epidemic, with its largest fentanyl bust this year in March, when deputies seized $1.4 million worth of the drug.

“That bust alone, in terms of fentanyl, that’s enough to kill, I want to say, five or six million people,” said Louis Licata, captain of the Special Investigations Division for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Licata says there has actually been a downward trend in fentanyl use in the county.

According to MCSO data, so far in 2025 there is a 41% decrease in all overdoses and a 29% decrease in deaths from last year. The sheriff’s office also says fentanyl contributes to the majority of overdose deaths.

“One reason is the security of the borders that’s making it harder for the drug traffickers and the cartels to get it in,” Licata said. “Doesn’t mean that they’re not going to or (are) moving to other traditional ways to get it into the U.S., or into our state, for that matter,” he said

For now, Cobb is waiting for justice for her daughter. The suspect who gave Nicolette the pill is behind bars, and the case is with the prosecutor.

“It would make me feel relieved,” she said. “I, of course, will forgive the person because that’s what my faith calls me to do. But it will be a final point for me to see that justice is served.”

Cobb hopes that sharing her daughter’s story can help other families avoid the same tragedy.