Trump talks tough on drugs

United States President Donald Trump said yesterday the “ultimate penalty” might be in order for drug dealers because the nation’s drug problem would never be solved without a show of strength and toughness.

The comments were Trump’s most explicit on the matter to date. He has previously alluded to death for drug dealers by noting that some countries are “very harsh” with drug dealers. Trump has also said he knows the answer to the drug crisis, but he isn’t sure the country is “ready for it yet”.

In remarks yesterday at a White House summit on the opioid epidemic, Trump said drug dealers and pushers killed hundreds of people but that that most did not go to jail.

“You know, if you shoot one person, they give you life, they give you the death penalty. These people can kill 2000, 3000 people and nothing happens to them,” he said, referring to drug dealers.

“Some countries have a very, very tough penalty — the ultimate penalty. And, by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do,” Trump continued. “So we’re going to have to be very strong on penalties.” Meanwhile, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects winners of the peace prize, says someone using a stolen identity has nominated Trump for the award.

The NTB news agency quoted committee secretary Olav Njolstad as saying it appeared the same person was responsible for forging nominations last year, as well.

“Every year, we get lots of invalid nominations, but these are nominations that are not valid because those who nominate are not qualified to do so,” Njolstad told NTB. “As far as I know, this is the first example of someone nominating someone by stealing another person’s identity.”

AP