We saw our first execution in six years here in Delaware last week. It was controversial for several reasons, one of which was the drug used to sedate the prisoner as part of the lethal “cocktail.” The drug, a short-acting, injectable barbiturate, replaces the standard. Thiopental Sodium has been used across the nation for executions, but manufacturing in the US was stopped recently, in part because of liability concerns by the manufacturer. That meant states were left scrambling to find a replacement that hadn’t been tested for executions. Prison officials used pentobarbital, a related drug instead. The US Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge that this substitution constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
The protests and controversy about restarting executions in the state have hidden the underlying crime which led to the sentence of death. Almost ten years ago, Robert Jackson (then 18 years old) and Anthony Lachette burglarized the home of Elizabeth Girardi. When she returned home, Jackson killed her with an ax. At least that’s what he was convicted of after his partner in crime turned State’s evidence and testified against him. Jackson insisted until the end that it was Lachette who committed the actual murder.
So why were the two young men burglarizing the house back in 1992? To get money for marijuana. Yep, that’s right, marijuana.
We are almost used to hearing about violent crime that stems from “hard” drugs. What isn’t mentioned much is that marijuana also generates violence, and in this case, murder.
Of course the argument is that weed wasn’t to blame at all. Marijuana is a harmless drug, isn’t it? Everyone agrees that marijuana doesn’t directly cause violent crime or homicide. But a lifestyle that involves drugs always carries the risk that things will explode. This is true for legal substance of abuse as much as illegal. Alcohol is noted for the associated violence.
So, no, we can’t blame marijuana. But in this case, it was a link in a chain of crime. Drugs cost money, plain and simple. What people are willing to do to get that money varies with the person, but the drive is certainly there.
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