drug traffickers should be given the death penalty?

Answer 1

No. It doesn't work for murder, there's no reason to think it would work for drug trafficking, either.

I was pro-death penalty (for murder) for a long time, but I have changed my stance over the years, for several reasons:

1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. Look at all the people who have been released after years of imprisonment because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most cases. No matter how rare it is, the government should not risk executing one single innocent person.

Really, that should be reason enough for most people. If you need more, read on:

2. Because of the extra expense of prosecuting a DP case and the appeals process (which is necessary - see reason #1), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute prisoners than to imprison them for life.

3. The deterrent effect is questionable at best. Violent crime rates are actually higher in death penalty states. This may seem counterintuitive, and there are many theories about why this is (Ted Bundy saw it as a challenge, so he chose Florida – the most active execution state at the time – to carry out his final murder spree). Personally, I think it has to do with the hypocrisy of taking a stand against murder…by killing people. The government becomes the bad parent who says, ‘do as I say, not as I do.’

4. There’s also an argument to be made that death is too good for the worst of our criminals. Let them wake up and go to bed every day of their lives in a prison cell, and think about the freedom they DON’T have, until they rot of old age. When Ted Bundy was finally arrested in 1978, he told the police officer, “I wish you had killed me.”

5. The U.S. government is supposed to be secular, but for those who invoke Christian law in this debate, you can find arguments both for AND against the death penalty in the Bible. For example, Matthew 5:38-39 insists that violence shall not beget violence. James 4:12 says that God is the only one who can take a life in the name of justice. Leviticus 19:18 warns against vengeance (which, really, is what the death penalty amounts to). In John 8:7, Jesus himself says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Answer 2

No, they should not be given the death penalty. BUT, they should be held under intense interrogation to find out who's all involved and then locked up for a long time, to break up the chain of supply.

Not sure that the "war on drugs" has ever been or will ever be taken very seriously, though.

Answer 3

Yes. Drug trafficking have a chain effect. It's causes alot of families broke down, alot of crime commited such as robbery, theft and murder.

Drug traffickers may not kill someone, but the chain effect may caused more people to suffer and even death. Thus, they should use their lifes to pay for the acts.

Answer 4

Drug traffickers know what they are doing. They purposefully bring drugs to people that will use them. They know young children will get their hands on them. They are aware that people will kill, rob, and burglarize others to get their hands on the drugs.

I think they should face severe punishments, maybe not death, but at the very least a life sentence in prison.

Answer 5

No. But they do need to give them harsher punishments obviously, due to the amount of drugs being trafficked and how many are actually caught...

Death is only necessary if they killed someone.

Answer 6

The death penalty shouldn't be used at all.

Answer 7

that's the punishment [if caught] in many countries.

Answer 8

so shoud your pharmacy