Pfizer Forbids Sales of Drugs For Lethal Injection

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Certain states in the US that allow lethal injections are having a challenging time sourcing their substances for their execution.

Read the article below to know the reason behind Pfizer’s decision to stop selling specific narcotics used in lethal injections.

The American pharmaceutical conmpany Pfizer has said it will no longer sell drugs that can be used for lethal injections to the Amercian government.  A total of 7 substances on the list are mostly used for operations and certain illnesses but are also in liquids used for executionsAccording to a Pfizer representative, the company’s aim is to save lives and not help kill people.

Pfizer says it will closely monitor buyers who try to resell the drugs to state institutions, which may use  them for executions.

After Pfizer’s decision , there are no more companies in the USA and Europe that sell lethal injection drugs to the Amercian government . The European Union  has banned the export of such drugs to the US.

As a result, state authorities are trying to find new drugs and combinations of substances that can be used for executions. Normally, three mixtures of drugs are used to execute a prisoner. The first one makes you unconscious , the second liquid paralyses the muscles  and the third stops the heart from beating.

In the past few years, the number of executions has decreasedin part due to the availability of lethal drugs. Last year only 28 executions were carried out in the US. Among the 32 states that allow capital punishment, all of them use lethal injections as the main method of execution but some allow the electric chair,hanging, the firing squad and the gas chamber as alternatives.

Human rights organizations and other groups opposed to capital punishment have welcomed Pfizer’s decision as a bold move to ban the death penalty in the United States.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of Pfizer’s decision?
  2. Why did several drug companies refuse to sell these drugs to the US government?
  3. In your own opinion, is lethal injection humane? Explain your opinion.
  4. Is there death penalty in your country? If none, should there be one?

British People Commit Micro Crimes

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Micro crimes are minor criminal offenses. Turns out, 3 out of 4 British people have, at one point in their lives, committed a micro crime.

Just what exactly is a micro crime and how serious is it?

Read the article below to discover the findings of a research done about crime. Be ready to answer discussion questions afterward.

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1610/161026-micro-crime.html

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think of micro crime?
2. How is micro crime different from the usual crimes we hear of?
3. Why do men and the middle class commit more micro crimes?
4. What crimes do you worry about in your country?
5. What should the punishment be for micro crimes?

Body in a Freezer

B1 – Intermediate

People will do anything not to be caught by the police. Crime nowadays are becoming more and more aggressive.

Read the article below then play the audio clip to practice your listening skills. Be ready to answer some discussion questions.

Body in a Freezer

Discuss:

1. Have you heard of a similar news happening in Europe?
2. In your country, are there people who try to sell passports and documents illegally?
3. Is drug trafficking a problem in your country/city?
4. How would you describe the police force of your country?