Of course, and I agree with you 99%
The issue IMHO is the implementation of the death penalty in a manner that is contradictory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in that it should be reserved solely for crime that results directly in death or the ambiguous "most serious offenses" clause, of which the trafficking of drugs is not generally considered to be.
If it was a discussion regarding life vs 20 years vs freedom or whatever, I back you 100% yo do the crime you do the time.
I have an issue with the death penalty in general in that it is fundamentally flawed by way of being irrevocable. By having the penalty you also must accept some collateral damage as the justice system is simply not perfect and innocent people can not be unkilled. IMHO that is not good enough, and makes capital punishment unacceptable.
I would also suggest that if LIFE in prison (possibly in solitary) isn't enough to deter someone, then I'm willing to wager death doesn't add much weight to the consideration