President Trump on Monday demanded stiffer penalties for large-scale drug traffickers, citing countries like the Philippines where capital punishment has been used as a tool to combat rampant drug use and illicit drug transactions.
“Take a look at some of these countries where they don’t play games. They don’t have a drug problem,” the president said during a speech on opioid addiction in Manchester, N.H., a state that has been ravaged by the United States’ worsening opioid epidemic.
“Unless you have really, really powerful penalties, led by the death penalty, for the really bad pushers and abusers, we are going to get nowhere,” Trump proclaimed.
Trump’s emphasis on capital punishment comes as his administration seeks $13 billion from Congress over the next two years to fight the opioid crisis, which claimed the lives of more than 63,000 people in 2016, according to U.S. health officials.
“If we don’t get tough on the drug dealers, we’re wasting out time,” Trump said Monday, adding that “toughness includes the death penalty.”
The president has already drawn heavy criticism for wanting to mimic foreign leaders like Rodrigo Duterte, whose own anti-drug campaign has resulted in thousands of executions in the Philippines to date, according to multiple outlets. Trump acknowledged that Americans might oppose the restoration of capitol punishment for certain drug dealers, though he admitted to having a difficult time understanding such opposition.
“It’s possible that our country’s not ready for it, and I can understand that, maybe, although personally I can’t understand it,” he said.
The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 allowed the federal death penalty to be imposed against large-scale drug traffickers.
In addition to funding requests and stricter penalties, Trump also announced the launch of a new government-run website that aims to provide resources for people who are grappling with opioid addiction in their homes or communities.
“President Trump’s opioid initiative will educate Americans about the dangers of opioid and other drug use and seek to curb over-prescription,” read a White House policy document distributed Monday.
