Stop Executing Drug Offenders, Addiction Scientists Demand

Governments worldwide should stop imposing capital punishment on drug traffickers and other drug offenders, said a group of addiction researchers in a recent editorial.

eScience News reported July 14 that the editorial published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Addiction said that execution does not effectively deter drug crime, since usually only impoverished and replaceable drug couriers are caught and punished.

The scientists cited a United Nations policy stating that capital punishment should only be imposed for “intentional crime with lethal or other extremely severe consequences,” saying that trafficking doesn’t fit that description any more than selling tobacco.

The authors are currently circulating a petition within the addiction field to drum up more support for their position.