'Party of losers': 6 highlights from the third Republican debate

Candidates vow to treat fentanyl addiction as 'national emergency'

While candidates were divided over many issues, specifically on foreign policy, they all promised to take decisive action to address the fentanyl crisis currently plaguing the U.S.

Christie insisted that there was a need to "lower demand" for fentanyl, maintaining that "the way to lower demand is to start treating people again."

"When I'm president of the United States, we're going to call this what it is. It is a disease," he remarked. The former New Jersey governor likened fentanyl addiction to "heart disease, diabetes or any other disease like cancer that can be treated, should be treated."

Haley agreed, calling addiction to fentanyl a mental health issue that amounts to a form of "cancer." 

DeSantis discussed his plan to declare the fentanyl epidemic "a national emergency on day one" of his presidency and designate the cartels peddling the deadly drug into the U.S. as "foreign terrorist organizations."

As part of the effort to combat the cartels, the Florida governor signaled his intention to "authorize the use of deadly force" by shooting anyone caught sneaking drugs across the southwest border "stone cold dead." 

Ramaswamy shared DeSantis' commitment to shoot fentanyl smugglers "stone cold dead" while rejecting the use of the term "overdose" to describe what happens to those who lose their lives to fentanyl.

"That is not an overdose. That is poisoning," he said. 

Additionally, Ramaswamy referred to the distribution of fentanyl in the U.S. as a form of "bioterrorism."