If illegal drug trade were a country, it would be the 22nd largest economy in the world, according to a speech made by Sheldon Whitehouse, United States Senator for Rhode Island, on March 2, 2022. In fact, illicit drug trade worldwide reached as much as US$652 billion, according to a report published in March 2017 by Global Financial Integrity, an American think tank focused on illicit financial flows and trade, corruption, and money laundering. In other words, illegal drug trade is estimated to make up nearly 1 percent of total global trade. Down through recent decades, the consumption of illegal drugs has been a widespread global issue and it remains very difficult for government authorities to thwart its popularity. Therefore, to combat this problem, some countries—most notably China, Singapore, and Malaysia—have resorted to using capital punishment as a way to deter drug trafficking. However, the use of the death penalty has been a controversial issue for many years and has in fact been found to be an ineffective solution to deter the trafficking or sale of drugs. In my opinion, the use of capital punishment for drug trafficking should be abolished due to the risk of error, the violation of human rights, and the inability to address the root causes of the problem in society.

First of all, capital punishment for drug trafficking should be halted because of the widespread risk of error. The potential for wrongful convictions is high, and executing an innocent person for a crime they did not commit is perhaps the gravest of possible injustices. The use of the death penalty, when applied by a flawed judicial system, can lead to wrongful convictions due to inadequate treatment, unfair trials, or insufficient evidence. There have been many cases in which people have been unlawfully put to death for drug-related offenses. For example, a report titled Fatally flawed: Why Malaysia must abolish the death penalty, issued in 2019 by Amnesty International, a global human rights organization headquartered in Great Britain, reveals the use of torture and other ill-treatment in Malaysia to obtain “confessions,” inadequate access to legal assistance, an opaque pardons process and other serious violations of the right to a fair trial that have put people at risk of execution. While the same criticism might not apply to all countries, it is clear the death penalty is a stain on the criminal justice systems of certain countries. Therefore, capital punishment for drug trafficking should be abolished because of the risk of error in some judicial systems.

Second of all, capital punishment for drug crimes should be abolished because it raises serious concerns about human rights violations. The use of the death penalty is considered by many to be a cruel and inhumane punishment. The act of taking another person’s life, even for a crime as serious as drug trafficking, raises serious ethical and moral concerns. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, an international human rights treaty adopted in 1966, requires that the death penalty only be imposed “for the most serious crimes,” such as murder. However, drug crimes do not meet that threshold. In fact, the United Nations has repeatedly declared that drug crime falls short of the “most serious crimes.” Hence, the use of capital punishment for drug crimes should be abolished due to the significant possibility of human rights violations in its application.

Third of all, capital punishment for drug trafficking should be terminated because it does not address the root causes of the problem in society. Drug trafficking is a complex issue that is driven by many factors, such as poverty, lack of education, and addiction. The use of the death penalty as a solution for drug trafficking fails to address these underlying issues and instead only serves to punish this symptom of a larger problem. Indeed, the death penalty may deter some individuals from engaging in drug trafficking, but it does not address the demand for drugs or the social and economic factors that drive individuals to become involved in drug trafficking in the first place. There is no evidence that the death penalty is more effective at deterring drug crime – or any other crime – than a prison term. Drug traffickers may also resort to extreme measures to avoid detection and punishment, creating a more dangerous society in general. For example, Iran has executed thousands of people in a bid to deter drug trafficking, even though the authorities have admitted it does not work. According to an expert at Iran’s Centre for Strategic Research, the death penalty has failed to reduce drug trafficking in the country. If governments invest more in education, healthcare, and addiction treatment, as well as providing economic opportunities for individuals in impoverished areas, the demand for drugs will be reduced, thus providing individuals with a way out of the drug trade. Therefore, it is clear that capital punishment does not address the root cause of drug trafficking in society and should be abolished.

Opponents of this view may argue that the death penalty is necessary as a deterrent to prevent drug trafficking, particularly in light of the fact that the drugs themselves may lead to accidental death. However, research shows that the use of the death penalty does not necessarily deter individuals from committing crimes. As a matter of fact, many individuals who engage in drug trafficking do so out of desperation and lack of options, and the threat of the death penalty may not be enough to deter them from taking these risks. “It is very clear that deterrents are not effective in the area of capital punishment,” says Dr. Jonathan Groner, an associate professor of surgery at Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, who researches the deterrent effect of capital punishment. “The psychological mindset of the criminal is such that they are not able to consider consequences at the time of the crime. Most crimes are crimes of passion that are done in situations involving intense excitement or concern. People who commit these crimes are not in a normal state of mind — they do not consider the consequences in a logical way.” This shows that deterrents may work in instances where the punishment is obvious and immediate, neither of which is true for the death penalty. Additionally, alternative forms of punishment, such as life imprisonment without parole, are as effective to deter individuals from committing drug-related offenses while also avoiding violations of human rights. Therefore, capital punishment for drug offenses does not necessarily deter crime and should be abolished.

In conclusion, capital punishment is not an effective solution for drug trafficking and should be abolished due to the risk of error in the judicial system, the violation of human rights, and the inability to address the root causes of drug trafficking. Instead, society should focus on creating a more just and fair system that addresses the underlying issues driving drug trafficking, including poverty, addiction, and lack of opportunities. By doing so, we can create a safer and more prosperous society for all individuals. It is time for us to move away from the barbaric use of the death penalty and towards more effective and humane solutions for addressing deep-rooted problems like drug trafficking in our society.