Rethink drugs death sentence

EDITORIAL

Published: 27 Nov 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

For more than two generations, the apocryphal tourist greeting in Thailand and neighbouring countries has been "Welcome, visitors. If you have drugs, we will kill you." Websites, travel agents, airport billboards and even immigration cards have carried versions of this warning. The bottom line: Possession of illegal drugs could be punished by execution. But slowly evolving policies appear finally to be eliminating the death penalty for drug trafficking.

The welcome change is far from even across Asia. Nor is there an actual movement that is pushing the change. China and Vietnam lag far behind in the slowly changing attitude towards punishment in drug cases. At the other end of the justice scale, Cambodia and the Philippines have abolished all capital punishment in the past six years. But while many countries retain the death penalty, they are using it less against drug offenders.

A low-profile group with Thailand ties, called the International Harm Reduction Association, has documented the changes in use of the death penalty. Patrick Gallahue, an author of the study and the group's spokesman, believes the evolution of drug trafficking penalties has been "tipping the scales for abolition" of the ultimate penalty.

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Modin
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Discussion 5 : 27 Nov 2012 at 21.305
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@englishbob
if you notice from my shirt im dutch. We have a very liberal policy where we tried to do what you suggest. Now we have all over holland criminal gangs, mainly made up of moroccans,turks, and other africans who deal in massive amounts of drugs. And when I say drugs I mean hard drugs since I do not consider a herb to be a drug. The liberal laws created a front and also made an environment where everything is tolerated. There is a massive criminal enterprise as well as all sorts of related crime from drug use. trust me its not a model to emulate
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englishbob
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Discussion 4 : 27 Nov 2012 at 19.444
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Why?
Why make drugs illegal at all?
A five minute Google search will reveal which drugs are most harmful and most addictive... Recreational drugs barely feature in the top ten. Legal drugs feature more prominently.

Legalise, regulate and tax them. Take the profits away from criminals. Ensure purer, safer drugs.
No country has ever successfully won the war against drugs. You can't stop people taking drugs because they feel just too damn good. You can only teach people how to use them safely and what the long term risks are.
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Modin
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Discussion 3 : 27 Nov 2012 at 15.363
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While killing a user may be extreme, drugs are a scourge and are getting worse every year. Enforcement is key, and there should be harsh penalties and no chance at bribing you way out of it. The cartels that do this trade need to be wiped out and all those, most importantly those in the top of the structure should be punished to the full extent of the law, including capital punishment. Too few of those in charge of the poison manufacturing and distribution are held accountable for their crimes
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Renaissance
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Discussion 2 : 27 Nov 2012 at 07.242
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Maybe a punishment worse than death would be to make a large indelible mark on the person's forehead that s/he is a convicted drug smuggler / dealer / or whatever. The pain from the public shame would be a severe punishment, maybe more of a deterrent than the death penalty.
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buster
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Discussion 1 : 27 Nov 2012 at 05.301
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drug offences in laos are punished severly,that is when the law on drug posession can kick in.
posession of the equivelant of bout 30 pills of Ya baa is considered an offence not yet crimanaly charge.so id the posession of 2 grams of herione.
Reality on the ground prevent police from prosecuting these offences and fines are easily payed on the spot.
Now.
The same reality on the ground is that even rural Laos is riddled with dope, and enforcement is minimum.
Which way does the honarable author thinks the law should be reviewed?
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Rethink drugs death sentence | Bangkok Post: opinion