Trump calls for death penalty of drug dealers

Trump’s push for stricter punishments on drug dealers might become a reality with Jeff Sessions memo to federal prosecutors to push for the death penalty in cases with “extremely large quantities of drugs.”

With the opioid epidemic devastating local communities around the U.S., Trump responded with a three-point plan of limiting opioid prescriptions, cutting supply of illegal drugs, and boosting access to treatment.

Sessions can send a memo to federal prosecutors under a law signed by Bill Clinton in 1994 when fears of crack cocaine led to the “war on drugs” and “crime” being at its height.

Harsher punishments on drug dealers have proven in the past to be somewhat ineffective. Mark Kleimen from the Marron Institute told Vox, “We did the experiment. In 1980, we had about 15,000 people behind bars for drug dealing. And now we have about 450,000 people behind bars for drug dealing. And the prices of all major drugs are down dramatically. So if the question is do longer sentences lead to a higher drug price and therefore less drug consumption, the answer is no.”

Despite expert objections, Trump’s focus on criminal justice for a preventive to drug dealing is set to go.