Barre (Vermont) mayor wants death penalty for drug dealers

[deadparrot]

BARRE, Vt. (AP) -- Mayor Thomas Lauzon says Vermont is losing the war on drugs, and that the solutions are to legalize marijuana and impose the death penalty on dealers of crack cocaine and heroin.

"I'm sure everyone will distance themselves from me," Lauzon said Saturday. "But if anyone tells you we're winning the war on drugs, they're lying."

Of hard drug dealers, he asked, "What social value do they have? They are dealing crack and heroin to young people, knowing full well what the effects will be. What purpose do they serve in society other than to destroy lives, to destroy families?"

Lauzon said he hopes to host a statewide forum in late April on Vermont's problems with illegal drugs.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VT_DEATH_FOR_DRUGS_VTOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-02-25-09-39-57

[Why Syzygy]

1. well he's got half of it right.

Needs to listen to his ex-governor to get a pov on the rest.

[redqueen]

2. Interesting...

however the demand for crack and heroin will not disappear because of these penalties... so the suppliers will not disappear either. I disagree that that will help at all... it will only clog the courts with appeals for those sentences.

[MindPilot]

5. That death penalty will be a huge deterrent.

Because drug-dealing is such a safe occupation.

It shouldn't be necessary, but :sarcasm:

[redqueen]

8. Yes...

You'd think these very basic things would be intuitively obvious... but... there it is... death penalty for dealing hard drugs, in black and white.

Perhaps he has benefactors in the Prison Industrial Complex?

[Turbineguy]

14. The existing death rate among

dope dealers may be higher than judicial penalties already. According to Dubner and Levitt in Freakonomics it's 7% annually.

[nebenaube]

7. actually

the 'gateway effect' is the search for a buzz. It's a matter of hydraulics, when no pot is available but someone has this rock or powder user's will get some...
The war on pot amplified the meth problem by almost the same means. Desperate unemployables stoop to manufacture it to pay the bills. Legalize pot and be hard on the 'hard drugs' and society will benefit in many ways. But I understand that such a concept is beyound the prejudiced capacity of the prohibition crowd. Too bad because the situation has grown steadily and was indeed the slippery slope to a police state.

[Phredicles]

3. Sure, no risk of executing the wrong people there...

:sarcasm:

What a dumbfuck - no :sarcasm: here.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. What social value does this guy have?

I say bring back tarring and feathering, and start with this guy.

[MGD]

24. I'm with you on this one 100%.

Hot sticky tar and lots of chicken feathers.

[acmavm]

6. I support the death penalty for people who commit treason.

If we held the government to that penalty, half the damn republican party (the war profiteers and the liars) and the entire bush** administration would be making out the menu for their last meal.

[theaudacity]

9. I hate to advocate for drug dealers but If everyone keeps trying to prove they are "tough on crime"

eventually we are going to have on the spot hangings for speeding.

[youngdem]

10. What a moron

This will of course never work.

Since the death penalty was restored, the murder rate has gone skyward. So, the death penalty isn't a deterrent.

Legalizing marijuana is a good start...completely victimless crime whose only consequences are those created by the statute.

But killing people who generally have a disorder is ridiculous and blindly vengeful.

All drugs should be legalized, and hard drugs should be dispensed by the government. People who purchase them would pay for the drug and the proceeds would be saved for treatment and other social costs associated with drug use.

[msongs]

11. there he goes again, picking on cigarette sellers...nt

[tchunter]

12. is it racist to demand death penalty for dealers of crack but not cocaine?

i say yes, as one is commonly found in poor black communities while the other is enjoyed by future presidents and execs. funny, the only difference is baking soda and water...

[cali]

21. I say no. Not in this particular case.

Barre, like every other part of Vermont, has very few blacks. As for the Mayor he's a jerk, particularly as Vermont has no dp, and won't be bringing it back. Of course, he may be referring to the Federal system.

[Donnachaidh]

13. I guess he hasn't read the studies about the costs of appeals, etc?

He's going to have far higher costs in building and maintaining all those death row facilities (if the problem is as big as he says) AND footing the bills for appeals, etc.

Pennywise and pound-foolish. Is this freak up for re-election or something?

[olddad56]

15. would this death penalty extend to ...

say bartenders, liquor store owners, any establishment such as s grocery stores that sold nicotine, etc. Or is it limited to drugs that kill people without the governments blessing. Just curious.


Decriminalize them all and tax the shit out of them. If you kid has to step over the body of a dead junkie on the way to school, I think he will really get the reasoning behind "Just say no".

Lets de-glamorize all toxic substances.

[WindRavenX]

16. Idiotic

NT

[depakid]

17. Maybe Lauzon should move to Indonesia or Malaysia

Because he surely doesn't belong in Vermont. What an embarrassment.

[LeftishBrit]

18. There is already the death penalty for drug dealers

It is generally administered by rival drug dealers.

It's not a fitting function for the state to commit murder IMO.

The legalizing-cannabis idea sounds quite sensible, however.

[WorldResident]

19. Doesn't the federal government provide for the death penalty for drug dealing?

n/t

[Kelvin Mace]

20. Fine by me

but only when we get the death penalty for corporate fraud (ala Enron), political corruption (Ney, Gingrich, Delay, Hunter, et al), and lying us into a war for profit and ego gratification (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, et al).

If you are going to execute people for anti-social behavior, let's start with the REAL problems.

[PA Democrat]

22. The death penalty is not a deterrent to crime

http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/deterrence.html

I guess this mayor's statement might appeal to people who want to "get tough on crime" but it's not going to reduce the number of drug dealers. Furthermore, it is actually MORE EXPENSIVE to carry out a death penalty than it is to keep a person imprisoned for life.

[ellie]

23. Just like Saudi Arabia!

[ileus]

25. I've always thought this was the only way to solve the drug problem

If you're killing others with your illegal product the same fate should await you. It's long past time to get serious with the war on drugs. Legalize pot fine, turn the rest into DP cases and you'd see results.

[hedgehog]

27. Man you pot heads are such snobs about your drug of choice.

Can't you just leave us junkies, coke heads and meth mouths alone?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

28. Great! While we're at it, why not the DP for speeding and drunk driving?

After all, auto crashes kill as much as drugs, if not more. :sarcasm:

[hedgehog]

26. Death penalty for drug dealers - man, isn't that a little harsh for the

convenience store clerks who sell tobacco to underage kids?