Death penalty for drug dealers?

Hi Gang:

Each state and the federal government have laws against the unlawful use, manufacture, and distribution of drugs. The purpose of these laws is to reduce the unlawful consumption of drugs, reduce drug-related crimes, and severely punish repeat offenders and major drug dealers. (They are dealing crack and heroin to young people, knowing full well what the effects will be.)

Is the punishment enough?

Should a death of a person who took drugs be found to be the fault of the drug dealer?
Should it be looked at as murder, which is punishable by the death penalty?

                                                                  PMM

PMM.....First, I have to ask.  Would the Cocaine kingpin distributing tons of drugs the SAME as the college kid growing hemp in his dorm and selling it to his friends?  A drug dealer is a dealer, right??????

I was referring of repeat offenders. Is the college kid a repeat offender? Has he continually sold and sold to his friends, kids, and others with his terrible drugs? Can he eventually kill someone without killing them?  Yesssss. A dealer is a dealer. And I suppose that would be a question the Jury would have to decide as well.

                                                                           PMM

Okay....the college kid has a Hemp business on the side to get him through college.  Execute him?  Same as Kingpin?

I've not heard of anyone dying of "HEMP." Although I must admit, I know little of drugs and their names and effects.  If his little side business is the reason someone dies, due to overdose, he should be tried in the least as involuntary manslaughter, which I doubt will get him executed, but hopefully will get him some time behind bars to teach him it is unacceptable to make,  sell, and distribute drugs.

I was poor as a hell and I took loans to get thru college. There just isn't a good enough reason to me to sell drugs. Perhaps he should get a job at McDonalds like alot of us had to do.  I worked at a pet store, and went to school full time.

        Your turn Doc....

How about a bar that lets a guy drink all day......lets him leave wasted beyond belief, and that guy drives into another car and kills the driver.  Shouldnt the bar be held responsible?

                                                                        PMM

I don't think the death penalty is appropriate, although I believe there should be stiffer punishment on drug dealers, get these people off the streets, zero tolerance, first offense, lock them up.

Look up Singapore regarding the death penalty for drugs...

The Misuse of Drugs Act is very strict – persons caught with at least half an ounce of heroin, at least 1 ounce of morphine or cocaine, or at least 17 ounces of marijuana are presumed to be trafficking in drugs, and face a mandatory death penalty. 400 people were hanged for drug trafficking in Singapore between 1991 and 2004.

Death Penalty in Singapore

“World’s Hanging Capital"

Introduction

1. Singapore had been described as the world’s hanging capital leading in the
number of executions, giving the small city state possibly the highest
execution rate in the world relative to its small population of about four
million people. According to Amnesty International, more than 420 peple have
been hanged in Singapore since 1991.

Drug trafficking-main cause for execution

2. Most of the executions arise from trafficking of drugs. Drug peddlers found
carrying small quantities of drugs (15g of heroin or 500g of marijuana) are
automatically given the death sentence. In addition the law presumes that a
person caught in possession of prohibited drugs knows that he is in possession
of some drugs, with the burden of rebutting the presumption on the person
charged. It is al most humanly impossible to rebut the presumtion where the
burden is reversed on the accused to prove his innocence.

Unjust criminal Laws

3. The criminal laws of Singapore are completely weighted against the
accused.For example confession alone can be relied upon in sentencing a
person to death. Also there is no right to pre-trial discovery of accused
statements or admissions. Confessions are often used as ambush tactic by the
prosecution when their evidence is weak. Defence is kept in the
darkness,speculatiing what their clients would have stated in their statements
to the police.

4. Further, an accused person can be convicted and sentenced to death solely
on the uncorroborated and unsupported evidence of the co-accused. Also the
courts here have repeatedly declared they have no jurisdiction or powers to reopen
a case even if there is fresh evidence adduced before the execution
showing the accused to be innocent. In one case which argued on the eve of
the execution asking for a retrial, the then Chief Justice who presided the
hearing maintained that an innocent man can be hanged in Singapore due to
procedural matters.

Mandatory death sentence

5. Singapore practices mandatory death sentencein that it takes away the
discretionary powers from the judges in precluding them from looking into the
extenuating and particular circumstances of the individual cases . Once the
accused is convicted of trafficking drugs, eg 15 gram of heroin, death sentence
is mandated.In recent case involving, Van Nguyen Tuong, 25
who was ruthlessly hanged amidst international criticisms, I filed a complaint
to the United Nationa Rapporteur against the mandatory death sentence
imposed on Van. In response, the UN issued a statement condemning the
mandatory death sentence imposed on Van as being unlawful under
international law.

6. A former high court judge had recently argued that mandatory death sentence
is unconstitutional even under Singapore laws. I have been campaigning
extensively along with other civil society groups in Singapore against the
mandatory death sentence. In two of the cases I handled, I filed applications at
the eleventh hour on account of miscarriage of justice premised upon trial
irregularities and discrimination ( PP v Vignes Murthy (2003) and PP v
Shanmugam Murugesu (2005).The applications were dismissed without
grounds of decision.

Discrimination in treatment of non –western prisoners

7. The Western counterparts get a different treatment in the media, eg; Julia
Bohl, a German national who was convicted of dug trafficking escaped the
gallows in Singapore. Mc Crea, a British National charged for double murder
in Singapore received clemency even before his trial commenced. The
decision by the prosecution to decide on one gram ie, 499g vis a vis 500g
(500g of Cannabis is the legal limit for death sentence) is an arbitrary one and
often is discriminatory in nature. The courts have excluded review on
discrimation by the prosecution.

Singapore’s links with drug lords

8. While Singapore arrests smalltime drug peddlers, drug barons continue to
operate untouched. One such drug lord is Lo Hsing Han, a Burmese heroin
producer whom a TV station has said to have ineterestes in
Singapore. In fact the US State Department has said that “over half(of the
investments in Burma) from Singapore have been tied to the fsmily of
narcotic-trafficker Lo Hsing Han.” Author and expert on drug trafficking
Burma, Bruce Hawke has also wriiten that “ the entry (of money from drug
trafficking) to the legitimate global system is not Burma but Singapore…” The
Government Investment Corporation(GIC), which consists of money from the
people holds more than 20 percent share in the company of the drug lord Lo-
Hsin Han. “So let us think , how hypocritical we are by hanging the poor in
society who are often preyed upon by drug lords, yet dealing with one of the
biggest Heroin producers of the world.