A genuine capital punishment system is an effective crime deterrent, always has been & always will be. No point in looking at the American experience, because they don't have a genuine CP system. As Levitt points out in Freakonomics, of the tiny proportion of murderers who actually end up on death row, only 2% of that group are executed each year.

Better to look at any society that has a track record of no messing about. And surprise, it works wonderfully. It may be brutal, but that's another question. Don't be sprouting the nonsense that it doesn't deter because history everywhere shows that it does.

China had a growing drug problem a few years back. Their solution? They promptly shot 6000 or so known drug dealers. Now, no more drug problem.

China's (Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Iran, pre-1788 Aboriginal customary law - do I need to go on? ? ?) crime rate is a lot lower than the western world. China also has 68 different offences that carry CP. More than half are for non-violent offences such as tax evasion, drug smuggling. If the state says, do that and we will put you behnd bars for 13 (16, 20) years (that doesn't focus on your mind), versus, we will blow your brains out/ cut your head off/ terminate forever your existence...I mean come on, it's obvious.