Philippines Enacts Death Penalty for Drug Dealing

The Philippines congress has approved and President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo has signed a draconian new anti-drug measure, the
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. The act mandates the
death penalty for drug dealing -- no matter how small the quantity
-- or for possession of as little as 500 grams or marijuana (a
pound is 454 grams), ten grams of opium, morphine, heroin,
ecstasy, or cocaine, or 50 grams of methamphetamine, or "shabu,"
as it is called in the Philippines. The new law will go into
effect in July.
"I want to deliver a message to all illegal drug traffickers to
immediately close their business," said Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu
City) at a press conference at Malacanang Palace in Manila after
President Macapagal-Arroyo signed the bill into law on June 7.
"They have no future. If they are caught, they will be punished
with life imprisonment or a death sentence," said Cuenco, one of
the bill's most ardent proponents.

Among other provisions, the new law includes:

* The death penalty for any trafficking, cultivating, importing,
selling, or trading controlled drugs or their chemical precursors.

* The death penalty for possession of the amounts listed above.

* The death penalty for any government official found guilty of
trafficking or of planting drugs.

* A life sentence for possession of more than five grams of hard
drugs.

* A 12-year prison sentence for possession of less than five grams
of hard drugs.

* Stiff new penalties for using cell phones or the Internet to
make drug deals.

* Stiff new penalties for "dangerous drug financiers, protectors,
and coddlers."

* Mandatory drug tests for persons seeking drivers' licenses or
weapons permits.

* Mandatory drug tests for candidates for public office.

* Mandatory drug tests for persons charged with a crime punishable
by more than six years in prison.

* Random drug tests for students and workers in government and the
private sector

* Compulsory drug education in all school levels.

The new law has broad support among the political and opinion-
leader classes. In a column Monday lauding the new law, Manila
Times columnist Ernesto Herrera referred to the drug trade as "the
Dark Pied Piper" and as "our modern-day Hitler." In metaphor-
mixing, lurid prose, Herrera urged public support for the new law.
"The drug menace has become the dark Pied Piper of the new
millennium," he wrote, "luring our young people away from what is
decent and moral, toward a huge cave and right into the bowels of
despair and decadence, where hope dare not show its face."

According to the Filipino government, the country has between 1.7
million and 2.1 million illegal drug users, "close to 10% of the
youth population." DRCNet could find no sign of any organized
drug reform effort in the Philippines.

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Philippines Enacts Death Penalty for Drug Dealing, Possession
of a Pound of Marijuana or Tens Grams of Ecstasy
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/241.html#philippines

 

yeah but social....i dunno about you, but Ive gone in with friends and bought well over a pound of marijuana before... And what do you think would happen if your hook ups started getting killed left and right because they were the local dispensers... I dont care so much for the fact that yes its very uncommon for me to have atleast a pound of bud on me, but more so the fact that the government has once again not only decided what individuals can or cannot do to their own body, but now if those rules are broken, they get the power to take that individuals life, to teach people a lesson.... bottom line is, I (and everyone else on this planet) should have the freedom to do whatever they desire to their own selves, aslong as they are of a reasonable age, are capable of making their own decisions, and arent going to hurt anyone else...period

 

youre right social, but I also wonder if a pound of shwag in the phillipines isnt uncommon, I know many south american countries see that much per person all the time considering the loose laws.....I think the majority of the world uses metric...But the US, being so high and mighty and kick ass decided to go with the customary system just to mess with peoples heads...