Hang the drug trafficker!

I had an interesting discussion over lunch today about the death penalty. The most recent case involves a 22 year old Australian of Vietnamese descent that was caught for drug trafficking. As we all know, Singapore law mandates a death penalty for traffickers carrying above a certain amount. This educated young man does not fit the stereotypical drug trafficker, and many sad facts of his past have emerged regarding how he came to be his unfortunate (an understatement) situation. His final appeal has been rejected by the president and he is due to hang.

In the discussion, what emerged, at least to me, was that the death penalty for drug trafficking, although efficacious, is no more justified (that's assuming that it was even justified in the first place). Very quickly, without going into the details, I think that the culture of hard drugs has been eradicated and that the profile of drug traffickers has changed. Our laws should change accordingly. This man does not deserve death for his crime.