Trump’s plan to execute drug dealers questioned

When President Donald Trump on Monday announced a controversial new opioid plan featuring the death penalty for drug dealers, the reaction was swift — even in Texas, the nation’s most frequent executioner.

After weeks of touting the need for more “toughness” in drug policy, Trump formally unveiled a threepronged proposal in Manchester, N.H., a state particularly hard hit by the ongoing overdose epidemic.

“We have to be tough, we have to be smart, we have to change the laws,” he said. “The ultimate penalty has to be the death penalty. Now maybe our country’s not ready for that — it’s possible.”

Some in the Texas legal community promptly panned the idea.

“That’s kind of over-thetop in my opinion,” said former Harris County prosecutor Ted Wilson, who oversaw multiple death cases throughout his career. “I think that long sentences are appropriate for drug dealers, but the death penalty in my opinion just doesn’t fit.”

Even outspoken local death penalty proponent Dudley Sharp wouldn’t offer support for the idea, saying he’d only support capital punishment for rapes and murders.

“I don’t think it’s practical,” he added.

Shannon Edmonds, a Texas District and County Attorneys Association staff attorney, doubted whether the U.S. Supreme Court would allow it.

But whatever the court may decide down the road, federal law already provides

for capital punishment in certain drug cases.

“It’s been on the books since 1994,” said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. “There are no legal changes that are necessary.”

So far, though, it’s never been used in drug cases — and doing so could be a costly proposition.

“Federal death penalty prosecutions cost millions of dollars,” Dunham said. “And if we’re talking about trying to combat a serious public health problem there are important questions about what is the best use of federal money.”

It’s not yet clear who would be targeted for the harshest penalty, but Kristin Houle, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty executive director, framed it as a bad solution.

“The death penalty is declining in Texas and across the country, and suggesting its increased use is a distraction from the real problem of the opioid epidemic,” she said.

Houston-based capital defense attorney James Rytting pointed to existing questions about racial bias in sentencing in a sharp rebuke of the plan.

“It’s a fool’s errand and it’s nothing but show,” he said.

In addition to touting the possibility of capital punishment, Trump promised “major litigation” against drug companies, a move that would echo lawsuits filed across the country seeking compensation for the public costs of addiction.

He also promised to spend “a lot of money” on “great commercials” showing the struggles of addiction.

“That’s the least expensive thing you can do, when we scare them,” he said. He also announced a new website — crisisnextdoor.gov — to broadcast the dangers of opioids, and promised to slash the number of opioid prescriptions by a third in the next three years.