Death Penalty for Drug Dealers—The New Plan to Fight the Epidemic
The drug crisis has been the birthplace of many strange ideas. Of course, as with any major problem or situation, citizens and lawmakers alike will try to come up with ideas—any ideas that may offer a solution. In this current drug crisis, ideas from heroin vaccinations, to mass incarceration, MAT, and harm reduction have all offered the promise of a solution, but so far we’ve ended up just spinning our wheels in the mud. We still have overdose rates that are through the roof, people are still getting hooked on heroin, fentanyl, and painkillers every day, and the crisis certainly shows no signs of stopping. The newest idea to come out of the governmental “think tank” is a pretty extreme measure and it’s one I completely disagree with. However, it is on the table, ready to be signed by President Trump, and it has some people up in arms.
The Trump administration is actually in the process of finalizing a plan to deal with the drug problem and it includes the death penalty for drug dealers. Strangely enough, the plan has some supporters like Representative Chris Collins of New York. He said, “I’m all in on the capital punishment side for those offenses that would warrant that. Including drug cases. Yep.”
“I’m all in on the capital punishment side for those offenses that would warrant that. Including drug cases. Yep.”
I think we can safely say that the War on Drugs has failed, and this may be another half-baked attempt at continuing a losing battle. I have never thought that we can incarcerate our way out of the drug problem. People who abuse drugs need rehabilitation, not jail and certainly not capital punishment. Many drug dealers are addicts themselves who are only peddling dope to support their own habits. They’re caught in the same grip of addiction as their customers. Rather than robbing, stealing, and otherwise hustling, they decided to sell drugs so they can consume drugs. The cycle of empty consumption. The reality is that the dealer is someone’s child, someone’s mother or father. They’re a person! And no, I don’t agree with them selling drugs that may likely kill someone else and cause them to overdose, but I also don’t believe they deserve to be killed themselves. It’s along the lines of the saying that two wrongs don’t make a right. And it’s true, they don’t. I feel like the death penalty for dealers is a somewhat extreme measure.
The Trump administration firmly believes that this new plan will seriously make a dent in the opioid problem but all I see happening is the continued unfortunate loss of life. We can’t arrest, lock up, or execute our way out of this crisis. The answer, as I’ve always said, lies in good, quality, long-term drug rehabilitation and the government needs to start taking some initiative in moving the solution to the opioid problem in that direction because, at this point, nothing else has worked. Why not make rehab available to anyone who needs it, including dealers and addicts? That’s how we’re going to get out of this thing. What are we going to get from executing a drug dealer? All we’re going to get is a dead drug dealer, just to have another person move up and take their place.
