Chinese 'people's war on drugs' still racking up kills

Apparently there's some kind of big sporting event thingie happening in China right now. I guess the Chinese were eager to impress all the out-of-towners, and one of their ideas for doing that was, "Hey, let's not execute as many people!" Except, of course, drug dealers:

China’s intensified "people’s war on drugs" is undermining efforts to reform the use of the death penalty in the country believed to be the world’s most prolific executioner.

As host to the 2008 summer Olympic games, Beijing has pledged to use the ultimate punishment sparingly and cautiously, sending all death sentences handed down by the provinces for review by the country’s Supreme Court.

But, on the other hand, a drive to create a "drug-free" Beijing Olympics in August has allowed little respite in the use of China’s death machine, and scores of drug dealers have been sentenced and executed.

"We don’t feel there has been any decline in the numbers of people tried and sentenced to death," says Zhou Jianzhong, a criminal defence lawyer based in this southwestern city, who has handled close to a hundred death penalty cases in the last several years.

Personally, I think the problem with the war on drugs in America is that it wasn't originally branded the "people's war on drugs." It's our lack of attention to these nuances that is causing the collapse of the empire! Or something.