Selling weed without a license? Trump thinks you should get the death penalty

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.

In a speech he delivered in Las Vegas, Nevada last week, former President Donald Trump said the US should replicate China’s drug policy, where fast-track drug dealers face the death penalty.

He discussed drastic measures, which he believes are the solution to law and order in the country, and praised China’s preferred method of government. “The penalties should be very, very harsh. If you look at countries around the world, the ones that don’t have a drug problem are the ones that have a very quick death penalty for drug dealers,” he said.



“Sounds awful, doesn’t it? But, you know what? Those are the ones who don’t have problems. It takes less than 15 years in court. It’s fast, and you absolutely – you execute a drug dealer and you’re going to save 500 lives,” he explains. He went on to say that the US needs a crackdown on illegal drug dealers by strengthening the police force that he believes should be on every corner.

“It’s awful to say, but look at any country in the world that doesn’t have a drug problem, they have a very severe death penalty for people who sell drugs,” Trump said.

RELATED: Punishing drug dealers only leads to more violence and deadly narcotics

The United States is already on track to spread the legalization of cannabis, as well as the legalization of therapeutic psychedelics, both of which have tremendous benefits for society, the data shows. But the opioid epidemic still stalks us, taking lives every day – and the death penalty is not a solution to the opioid epidemic.

The death penalty is not the solution

If any country has a drug problem, the presence of illicit drug dealers is just a symptom of a larger problem. The death penalty is never the answer.

For people like Trump who believe that, their moral compass is seriously off the radar. Nobody has the right to take someone’s life.

According to a 2018 report by Harm Reduction International, about 35 countries around the world still impose the death penalty for drug-related offences. Even if these countries choose to use the death penalty, that doesn’t mean it’s right or working. In fact, the trend is that more and more countries are working to abolish the death penalty for crimes – not just drug-related crimes. So if the US decides to take such an extreme measure, it would go against the global trend. Also, the countries that have implemented these measures have no evidence that they are stopping the cycle of illicit drug trafficking and the drug traffickers behind it.

Photo by Jose Antonio Luque Olmedo/Getty Images

RELATED: Illegal Vs. Legal: What Are the Real Benefits of Buying Weed from a Licensed Dispensary?

It is also important to remember that many people who have had no choice but to become a pusher have done so in numerous cases out of desperation. They are usually tricked or coerced into breaking the law, and often they are just teenagers. It’s just not fair to deprive a teenager of their right to live – they’re not the ones the law should be after.

Take the case of Shahrul Izani of Malaysia, who was only 19 when he was found guilty of drug trafficking in 2003. He was found with 622 grams of marijuana and then, amid much fighting, received the 2009 death penalty for his life. Thankfully, Amnesty International Malaysia was successful in their campaigns for his clemency and was instead sent to prison, where he is due to be released in 2030.

Malaysia does not disclose its execution statistics, although experts say more than half of the death sentences in the Asian country are related to drug convictions. However, Iran and Malaysia were once two of the most pro-death penalty countries, but both countries have already made the necessary efforts to prevent drug-related measures from going so far. It makes no sense that a country supposedly as progressive as the United States would go in the opposite direction.

Instead, we should look for measures that are always humane and evidence-based. More importantly, any action should aim to address the root cause of a public health crisis. Policies are needed to ensure marginalized communities are always protected, while also spreading awareness and information about harm reduction policies. Treatment and medication for drug addicts must be provided, but these things just don’t happen in cultures that use drug punishment to punish drug dealers with the death penalty.

Ultimately, the death penalty contradicts the values ​​of a democratic system. There are many things that are unfair, unjust and inhumane, but in the United States (and many other countries) it gets worse because it is done on people because of their wealth status. It is far more common for marginalized people, people of color and the poor to be executed than for rich, white people.

Also, pursuing the death penalty only wastes resources: law enforcement, taxpayers’ money, and more. There is no real public health benefit and will not even stop violent crime. Experts know that the real solution to ending violent crime is to create more jobs, work on a better, more lucrative economy, and strengthen the police force.

Sorry, but criminalizing drug dealers makes drugs cheaper and deadlierPhoto by MachineHeadz/Getty Images

The data is in: Based on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, states that have the death penalty have higher homicide rates than states that don’t. It just misleads the electorate that the government is actually working to reduce violent crime, but these laws really do nothing to protect you from criminals. No one deserves to die – not at the hands of another man and especially not by the law.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.

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