He called for broadening education and awareness about drug addiction while expanding access to proven treatment and recovery efforts. “Drug traffickers kill so many thousands of our citizens every year,” Trump said. The justice department said the federal death penalty was available for limited drug-related offenses, including violations of the “drug kingpin” provisions in federal law. It is not clear if the death penalty, even for traffickers whose product causes multiple deaths, would be constitutional. John Blume, a professor and director of Cornell Law School’s death penalty program, said the federal drug kingpin law had yielded few “kingpins” or major dealers, mostly ensnaring mid- to low-level minorities involved in the drug trade.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 20, 2018 23:15 UTC