Regarding the front-page article in about imposing the death penalty on individuals who sell what turns out to be lethal doses of heroin or related substances (Sunday Monitor front page, Sept. 11): I do not object to such a measure.
However, it will be an issue of justice, not an effective preventative. That is, the idea that someone would refrain from selling such substances out of fear of the death penalty, or any other sanction, is simply misguided.
Persons selling such substances are mostly addicts themselves, dealing/selling to sustain their addictive habit. To someone in the throes of such addiction, all potential consequences are subordinate to the compelling need to obtain the substance. That is the nature of the disease.
I cannot count the number of times, in my professional involvement with these issues, that the addicted individual has said, “I never would have believed I would ever (steal, neglect my kids, lie, inject substances, deal), but I ended up doing it.”
Again, I am not saying it is wrong to impose such penalties for these serious crimes. I am saying that, to curb the current substance-misuse crises we face as a state, and a country, we will need a comprehensive program of prevention and treatment, costing us tremendously in treasure, time and effort. In the end, it will be worth the cost.
Mike Bradley
Hillsboro
(The writer is a master licensed alcohol and drug counselor.)