supervised-injection-sites

Carl Hart, a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at Columbia, recently declared that he is entering his fifth year as a regular heroin user. This surprising public statement brought new attention to Hart’s long history of advocacy for the decriminalization and legalization of most drugs. Based on his research, Hart believes that illegal drugs, when used properly, have overwhelmingly positive effects on the human psyche.

On Jan. 8, 2008, the Supreme Court heard the oral argument in Baze v. Rees challenging the constitutionality of the commonly-used "three-drug cocktail" method of lethal injection. Is this procedure, as it is often carried out, "cruel and unusual punishment?" The justices' highly charged discussion is the first time the Supreme Court has grappled so intimately with the intersection of medicine and law since the abortion debate in Roe v. Wade in 1976.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Baze v. Rees, a Kentucky case challenging current practices regarding lethal injection—the modality of death in almost all of the 38 states that allow capital punishment. The decision, expected by June, is likely to focus on the narrow question of the proper standard for assessing whether lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. However, as the case turns out, one of the most troubling aspects of lethal injection will remain at issue: the involvement of physicians in the process of execution.