President Trump is expected to announce a plan for his administration’s response to opioid addiction and overdose. Instead of focusing on proven overdose prevention measures, the administration is reportedly planning to call for the death penalty for people who sell drugs.
“President Trump’s proposal for addressing the opioid crisis emphasizes the same rights-abusing enforcement and extreme sentencing we witnessed in the 80s and 90s”, said Nicole Austin-Hillery, executive director of the US Program at Human Rights Watch. “If Trump were truly serious, he would focus on expanding proven health interventions and supporting sentencing reform, as Congress has been doing with bipartisan success. Instead, he continues to revive the drug war, now using the death penalty, which Human Rights Watch vehemently opposes and which is currently being questioned for its inhumanity and waning support. Simply put, use of the death penalty is a disproportionate approach that will have zero impact on trafficking or addiction."
Human Rights Watch, Drug Policy Alliance, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The Sentencing Project, and Law Enforcement Action Partnership are holding a joint teleconference at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon, Monday, March 19, in response to Trump’s plans for handling the nation’s opioid crisis.
