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on the subject of deterrence, if the author argues that the death penalty is not a deterrence, how does he explain the relatively low levels of drug crimes in a

on the subject of deterrence, if the author argues that the death penalty is not a deterrence, how does he explain the relatively low levels of drug crimes in asian countries where death penalty is more heavily used? It appears to me the death penalty, while used as a potential punishment threat in the U.S, is actually a sparsely applied. Criminals know that, so its deterrence factor is effectively diminished

RockyMcNuts 10y ago
The US has the death penalty, they have the death penalty, why would one conclude that the death penalty is what makes the difference? even if a country with a harsh penalty for drugs has less drug crime, other confounding factors have to be looked at, like a large potential market for illegal drugs, a large population with no better means of making a living. I would expect that a draconian death penalty may be some deterrent but it may not be the best policy, either.
VLM 10y ago
You may be confusing the metric of convictions with the metric of activity (proxy for deterrence) The way it works in the USA for example, is if the punishment for cocaine dealing is draconian, for white people it'll be plea bargained down to time served and some probation for a small possession charge, but black people will get convicted and go to prison on a full trafficking and conspiracy charge, so the metric you're actually measuring is the racial ratio of coke dealers caught by the cops. Likewise what you're likely really measuring in the Asian countries is the ratio of border guards and cops who can be bought off and stay bought off. There may be some occasional extremely aggressive bribe negotiation situations, or a much disliked or distrusted courier is ratted out by his own guys (or an opposing group?). Another metric that's actually being measured is the local technologies and ratios of shipments; its quite possible that things in the USA are extremely personal with trunks full of stuff in personally owned vehicles but in Asia anonymous shipping containers in government owned and operated ports that don't legally exist are the primary source or maybe something even sneakier.
- aminok 10y ago
  Drug abuse is far less common in Singapore, to take one example, than Western countries. That would suggest low activity.

RockyMcNuts 10y ago

The US has the death penalty, they have the death penalty, why would one conclude that the death penalty is what makes the difference? even if a country with a harsh penalty for drugs has less drug crime, other confounding factors have to be looked at, like a large potential market for illegal drugs, a large population with no better means of making a living. I would expect that a draconian death penalty may be some deterrent but it may not be the best policy, either.

VLM 10y ago

You may be confusing the metric of convictions with the metric of activity (proxy for deterrence) The way it works in the USA for example, is if the punishment for cocaine dealing is draconian, for white people it'll be plea bargained down to time served and some probation for a small possession charge, but black people will get convicted and go to prison on a full trafficking and conspiracy charge, so the metric you're actually measuring is the racial ratio of coke dealers caught by the cops. Likewise what you're likely really measuring in the Asian countries is the ratio of border guards and cops who can be bought off and stay bought off. There may be some occasional extremely aggressive bribe negotiation situations, or a much disliked or distrusted courier is ratted out by his own guys (or an opposing group?). Another metric that's actually being measured is the local technologies and ratios of shipments; its quite possible that things in the USA are extremely personal with trunks full of stuff in personally owned vehicles but in Asia anonymous shipping containers in government owned and operated ports that don't legally exist are the primary source or maybe something even sneakier.

aminok 10y ago
Drug abuse is far less common in Singapore, to take one example, than Western countries. That would suggest low activity.