CAPITAL PUNISHMENT – IS IT JUSTICE OR MURDER?

State execution of convicted criminals is a hotly-debated, life-and-death social issue. The subject of capital punishment pushes more emotional buttons than practical ones.

There’s a host of heated arguments to back up each camp’s position.

The Pros put forward justice, retribution, deterrence, cost-saving, and closure to victims as reasons to carry out the death penalty. The Cons defer to moral, religious, legal, unfair application, and danger of mistake as grounds not to kill condemned prisoners.

So who’s right?

Both, if you listen to the emotional pleas.

But set aside all the teeth-gnashing and hair-tearing and look at the practical benefits of having death penalty legislation.

It goes without saying that punishment must fit the crime and execution must be reserved for the most despicable of criminals such as child-rapists, serial-killers, and mass-murderers. Some jurisdictions retain the right to execute lesser felons like mutineers, traitors, and spies, however it’s sensible that only exceptionally dangerous people, for whom there’s no chance of rehabilitation, or that their crimes are so horrific that there’s no other just punishment, be executed. Serial killer Theodore (Ted) Bundy is a prime example as well as the terrorists behind the 911 bombings.

There are only two unshakable reasons for the state having and enforcing the power to execute a convicted murderer.

First, it’s an indisputable fact that execution guarantees that person will never re-offend.

Yes, the counter argument suggests that locking an inmate up for life with no possibility of parole achieves the same end, but it’s not the same thing. There are many cases where a dangerous criminal has escaped or found a legal means to roam free and kill again.Once a killer is dead, that’s the end of their threat to society. Period.

There’s a second practical application of death penalty legislation that few people in the general public think about, but which police officers and prosecutors know to be valid.

Capital punishment is an effective, persuasive tool in forcing caught killers to co-operate with authorities. Plea-bargains are done with accused murderers where the death penalty is waived in exchange for information. This leads to solving other homicides, recovering bodies, giving closure to victimized families, and studying the minds of these monsters in order to understand and prevent future miscreants. The save-his-life deal with Seattle’s Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, paid off big.

There’ll never be unanimous support for and against capital punishment, let alone on the method on how it should be carried out.

Moral. Practical. Economic. Vengeance. Justice. Retribution. Deterrence. Cost-saving. Closure. Moral, Religious. Legal. Unfair application. Danger of Mistake.

Lethal injection. Firing squad. Noose. Gas chamber. Electric chair. Beheading, stoning, and burning at the stake.

What are your thoughts? Is capital punishment justice or murder? And is there a humane method in carrying it out?

I’m dying to hear your words.

MARIJUANA: DRIVING HIGH

Sabra Botch-Jones, M.S., M.A., D-ABFT-FT, is a forensic toxicologist at Boston University School of Medicine/fTox Consulting, LLC. With the move towards decriminalization of marijuana across North America comes the issue of legal DUI tolerances with cannabis impairment. Sabra wrote this accredited, scientific article specifically for DyingWords. Thanks, Sabra!

Introduction

Several States have moved into a new era with the legalization of medical and/or recreational use of marijuana. With this shift we must stop and ask the question of “are we ready”?

With the year 2014 behind us, we have 24 states with legislation allowing the use of marijuana for certain medical conditions and two states (Colorado and Washington) having passed laws allowing its use recreationally. This is a historical shift for a substance that has had a world-wide presence since 28^th century B.C.

Safety-sensitive functions such as operating a motor vehicle require our full attention and distracted or impaired operation can be catastrophic. Driving under the influence of an impairing substance, including legal recreational (i.e alcohol) and prescription drugs, puts our lives and those around us at risk.

Therefore, let us explore the risk posed by driving “high” and what research is telling us.

What We Know

A multitude of studies exist on cannabis intoxication and its effect on the skills needed to drive safely. With this magnitude of information, the answer to our previous question “are we ready” should be yes, but is it?

We know that drug use, alone or in combination with alcohol, increases our risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident; however, the level(s) (if any) of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) used to determine impairment is the subject of debate.

Research shows inter-individual variation in impairment, with some individuals being dangerously impaired at very low levels. Conversely, there are individuals who showing no appreciable cognitive effects test well above the suggested levels.^1-7

This variability makes passing legislation based on compound levels extremely difficult and may lead to erroneous perceptions that driving while high is not dangerous.

Complex tasks such as driving require attentiveness, accurate perception of speed and timing as well as altertness.^1-6 These are all areas that THC can negatively effect.^1-6

In a placebo-controlled cross-over study investigating the acute effects of smoking high-potency cannabis joints on psychomotor skills related to driving, researchers found that subjects still reported experiencing a “high” or “feelings of intoxication” well past peak levels, with measured concentrations dropping below the legal level 5 ng/mL set by some states.¹

It is challenging to correlate what this level means to actual impairment due to the fact that THC levels in the blood peak quickly following inhalation and decline rapidly based on pharmacokinetics.⁶ Adding to the complexity of analytical interpretation of THC in the blood is time, with subjective effects felt as soon as after 1 to 2 inhalations.⁸

Researchers have also shown that significant impairment of tracking skills (used as an indication of accurate motor control) accompanies marijuana use.¹ Ultimately these authors concluded “that smoking cannabis significantly decreases psychomotor skills and globally alters the activity of the main brain networks involved in cognition even at low concentrations of THC in the blood.”¹

In addition to these skills, attention alone, divided attention, visual functions, and reaction time are all areas impaired when an individual drives “high”.^1-3 The impairment of each of these skills differs depending on the dose and potency of the drug. Therefore the effects of marijuana and the detrimental consequence on a particular skill varies depending on the particular function being employed.

What Should We Do?

Establishing levels of THC in which a jurisdiction considers an individual impaired is challenging. Some countries have established a zero-tolerance approach to compensate for individual-to-individual impairment. In the United States, we have created similar laws for certain drugs to account for lack of scientific knowledge and/or user variability and this may be an approach to consider.

Regardless of what approach is taken, as with all drugs (recreational or prescription) ultimately it is the individual that must be responsible for their actions.

Refrain from operating a motor vehicle when impaired and be aware that negative effects can continue well past the feeling of being “high”.

References:

Battistella, Giovanni et al. “Weed or Wheel! fMRI, Behavioural, and Toxicological Investigations of How Cannabis Smoking Affects Skills Necessary for Driving.” Ed. Lin Lu. PLoS ONE 8.1 (2013): e52545. PMC. Web. 5 Jan. 2015.
Walsh, J. Michael et al. “Drugs and Driving”. Traffic Injury Prevention. Vol. 5, Iss. 3, 2004
Sewell, R. Andrew, James Poling, and Mehmet Sofuoglu. “THE EFFECT OF CANNABIS COMPARED WITH ALCOHOL ON DRIVING.” The American journal on addictions / American Academy of Psychiatrists in Alcoholism and Addictions 18.3 (2009): 185–193. PMC. Web. 5 Jan. 2015
Moskowitz H. Marihuana and driving. Accid Anal Prev. 1985;17:323– 345.
Hall W. The Health and Psychological Consequences of Cannabis Use. Canberra: Australian Government Publication Service; 1994.
Kurzthaler I, Hummer M, Miller C, et al. Effect of cannabis use on cognitive functions and driving ability. J Clin Psychiatry. 1999;60:395– 399.
Liguori A, Gatto CP, Robinson JH. Effects of marijuana on equilibrium, psychomotor performance, and simulated driving. Behav Pharmacol. 1998;9:599–609.
Berghaus G, Scheer N, Schmidt P. Effects of Cannabis on Psychomotor Skills and Driving Performance-A Metaanalysis of Experimental Studies. Schafer Library of Drug Policy. Accessed Jan. 08, 2015

http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/misc/driving/s16p2.htm

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Sabra Botch-Jones, M.S., M.A., D-ABFT-FT of Boston University School of Medicine/fTox Consulting, LLC, is a Forensic Toxicologist and full-time faculty member at Boston University’s Biomedical Forensic Sciences graduate program. She teaches courses in Drug Chemistry, Forensic Toxicology and Instrumental Analysis in Forensic Laboratories.

She began her career with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory at the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute and was a Senior Forensic Toxicologist/Quality Manager at the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Sabra is board certified as a Diplomate by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology. She earned her Master of Science degrees in Drug Chemistry and Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Oklahoma. She conducts research in the areas of forensic toxicology, analytical chemistry, as well as epidemiological studies on drug use.

Sabra has authored and co-authored 14 scientific articles. She is active in a number of professional organizations including the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division (Executive Board), Society of Forensic Toxicologists, Southwestern Association of Toxicologists, Association for Women in Science (Writer-AWIS Magazine), and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Sabra was recently selected to be a member of the toxicology subcommittee of the Organization for Scientific Area Committees.

Her Boston University Faculty Link is: http://www.bumc.bu.edu/gms/biomedforensic/faculty-and-staff/faculty/sabra-r-botch-jones-instructor/

fTox Consulting link is: http://ftoxconsulting.com

fTox Consulting Facebook link is: www.facebook.com/FtoxConsult

Sabra’s Twitter Handle is: @sabraruvera

GLOSSOPHOBIA – OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

If you’re like most people, you’re more afraid of public speaking than you are of death.

I’m fine with death, though I’m in no rush to try it out. But there was a time that I was absolutely shit-scared of opening my yap in front of a group larger than four… maybe five at the most. And I bet that you get at least butterflies, maybe trembles, or probably the runs before making a presentation. Maybe you’ll even go to extreme lengths to avoid public speaking like I did such as faking illness, manipulating others to cover for you, and flat-out running away.

I have no idea what the psychological cause of my glossophobia was (that’s the term for the fear of public speaking), because in high school I had no problem getting up in front of my friends. When I went to post-secondary education, things changed. It was triggered in my first class with strangers where I simply had to do an around-the-room read from a script.

Coming close to my turn, all the classic phobia signs of not being in my comfort zone materialized. Pulse pounding. Trembles. Shakes. Chills. Dry throat. Gut-cramp. Then a total breakdown in confidence and wide-eyed terror – visualizing that I was about to be publicly humiliated in front of all these strangers.

I froze. The instructor tried to prompt me, but all I could muster was some pathetic excuse that I didn’t have glasses and I couldn’t read the words. The class moved along but I regressed – spiraling down to a dismal lack of self-confidence. I left the room and didn’t come back.

Five years later, after hiding from every chance of public speaking, I landed in the police academy with the same secret baggage. ‘Effective Presentation’ was part of the curriculum and I watched it approach on the syllabus with sleepless fear. I would’ve sooner stood-in for a range target than speak before thirty-one other recruits – even though they were now my friends.

I was so tense when speech-time came. I finally confided in my troop-counsellor who told me that pretty much everyone goes through this.

I thought I was the only one.

He worked with me to make a ‘Fear of Public Speaking’ presentation to the troop and it was life-changing – not just for me – but for many other rookies who suffered from the same phobia and were thinking exactly as I was.

I wasn’t the only one.

Over the years I’ve had nervous setbacks but never a humiliating loss of control, though it’s come shakingly close.

In my career as a homicide detective I’ve been on the witness stand in front of a jury and a crowded courtroom many times – once for five days straight. That’s public speaking on steroids – like being stripped naked and tied to the fountain-clock in a shopping mall. As a coroner I’ve done inquests and, as a writer, I’ve done radio and TV interviews reaching over a hundred thousand.

This afternoon, I’m doing an hour-long internet podcast on causes of death and, this September, I’m presenting the biggest in-person speech of my lifetime at the International Conference on Forensic Research and Technology in Atlanta on the evidence in the JFK Assassination. There’ll be three to four hundred in that crowd with far, far more forensic accreditations than I’ll ever have.

Am I nervous?

You bet.

How will I handle it?

First of all, I’ll be myself.

That’s the number one ‘trick’ to public speaking. Just be yourself and say what you know. People inherently recognize genuineness. If you try to be someone you’re not, the audience will see right through you and you’ll bomb. Be yourself and you won’t fail.

Here’s more tips for building your public speaking confidence and effectiveness.

Prepare – Know your material and know your audience
Rehearse – Practice your presentation
Believe – Know that you’ll do fine
Re-live – Recall previous successes
Visualize – See yourself succeeding
Research – Again, know your material
Engage – Start your presentation by asking something
Humor – Don’t be too serious
Produce – Give them a take-away to remember
Collaborate – Bring a resource on-stage
Prompts – Use visual aids like PowerPoint, whiteboards, and flipcharts
Repeat – There’s nothing like experience to improve your skills

Here’s one little trick that I learned about settling the physical jitters. Pressing on your solar plexus triggers a relaxation in the central nervous system and it looks totally natural. Trust me… this works. Only don’t press too hard or you’ll knock yourself out.