If they commit violent crimes like rape, murder, attempted murder, or torture, yes. If not, no. Non violent offenders should never be killed.

Drug dealers only exist because people want drugs. That's all it is, filling a market vacuum. Capitalism 101. Problems start to arise in capitalism when you outlaw a good or service that is in demand. The same model holds true for drugs, alcohol during the prohibition, guns, prostitution, abortion, etc. Drug dealers are just businessmen acting outside of the law, and because their baseline practice is outside of the law, they have no reason to adhere to lawful standards of any other kind. Twelve year old wants crack? The drug dealer wants money, and there's no difference in that transaction to the drug dealer or the federal government than if they had sold their product to an adult. Rival dealer starting a turf war? Well, you won't be able to settle your differences in court- you'll just have to shoot it out in the street. So what's the point of all of this? What's the solution?

Legalize drugs. All of them. And legalize prostitution while you're at it. Let's be realistic: outlawing them isn't working, and we're filling up our prisons with nonviolent offenders who either just want to get high and not hurt anyone, or need help in the form of rehabilitation and end up trapped in a cage with just as easy availability of drugs that they had on the outside. But if you legalize something that people are going to get their hands on anyway, then you can regulate it. Dealers will have to be licensed. There will be minimum ages you can sell to. Heavy taxes on their product to support rehab programs, and social programs to take in kids that need to be removed from homes of addicts. Mandatory clean needles. The products themselves will have to come from licensed manufacturers with standard safety practices, so you can't cut your product with rat poison or something. Most importantly, those who are addicted and need help won't be "helped" by tossing them in a jail cell, ruining their life further than it already was and having to wear the mark of a Felon for the rest of their days. Yes, there will be people who simply choose to be addicts and this action may even enable that. They will also serve as an example to the rest of us, now that the subject of the addict is no longer so taboo. There is also the subject of the dealer, who, in the interest of keeping their license and therefore their livelihood, will have to operate within lawful standards: no shooting up another dealer over turf wars. If they break the rules, take their license- people will obtain their drugs lawfully, if they can, rather than go to an unlicensed dealer. And if they do continue to deal drugs while unlicensed, then throw the book at them.... Basically, very little difference from how we already regulate tobacco and alcohol. In short: keep the dealers in check, help the users if they turn into abusers, and other than that, let people live their own damn lives.

However, the idea of the death penalty for drug dealers is just another senseless escalation that ultimately won't work, not to mention is cruel, unusual and most of all disproportionate punishment. If you insist on keeping capital punishment- which I don't, but that's another debate- at least limit it to violent offenders.

the description says my argument, go back, read it, and let the games begin.

No, it doesn't make sense for a drug dealer to get the death penalty. Yes, it is not right to sell drugs to kids at all, but they didn't kill anyone. Whoever dies because of the drug, it is the person who bought the drugs fault. They were the one that made the decision to take/buy the drug. It us indeed wrong for the dealer to sell the drug, as I already stated, but it is the buyers fault for putting themselves in the situation.

Hello k,

Alcohol and tobacco combined kill about 500,000 people a year in this great country alone. Illegal drugs only kill about 50,000 people a year.

Given those numbers, exactly who should get the death penalty?

excon.

Like I've already said, it's the buyers that bring death upon themselves. But here's another thing.... WHO DOES DEATH PENALTY ANYMORE?

Should the death penalty be given to drug dealers?

I don’t think pharmacists should be given the death penalty