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[–] Copernicus ago 

No, I understood what you were saying, but I was challenging the notion that the death penalty is pointless as you said. The 'point' is to punish people who commit murder or other similar crimes. The potential consequence of increased drug sales (which will happen anyway) don't have anything to do with the punishment. The same could be said if you were to simply put drug dealers in jail instead of killing them. Still reduces the number of dealers on the street and potentially increases the demand.

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[–] ArsCortica ago 

I see. In this case, however, you would need an argument as to why killing murderers as a whole would be fruitful. I do see cases where criminals are so psychotic and insane that there is absolutely no chance of rehabilitation and that they would remain a permanent risk of society as a whole, but there also are cases where a) murderers can be rehabilitated or b) the murder still is a crime but certain factors would mean that public opinion would see the capital punishment as to harsh a sentence (i.e. a person killing a parent that has been abusive in the worst meaning of the word for years, or similar scenarios).

As for as imprisoning the drug dealers is concerned - I see your point that taking them out of the market - be it by imprisonment or by hanging - increases the demand at any rate, but if you imprison them rather than killing them, you still have the chance of converting them into productive members of society, however slim it may be. You may even apply forced labor to them if you have no ethical doubts about that practice, so that you - in the larger picture - get resources back from them that they removed via their drug trade and its victims. Capital punishment just throws it all away.