3 ms·

Yeah, with all the problems the US has had acquiring an appropriate cocktail of drugs for lethal injections over the last few years, you'd think someone would l

Yeah, with all the problems the US has had acquiring an appropriate cocktail of drugs for lethal injections over the last few years, you'd think someone would look into this kind of thing. Nitrogen is super easy to get.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
sschueller 5y ago
Or just carbon monoxide. The thing people are so paranoid over in their homes because it is a silent killer.
jack_riminton 5y ago
Some states are experimenting with Nitrogen Article from NYTimes from 2018: https://web.archive.org/web/20210704140110/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/health/death-penalty-nitrogen-executions.html https://web.archive.org/web/20210704140110/https://www.nytim...
skocznymroczny 5y ago
I am not up to date with US lethal injection, but weren't the changes in lethal injections in the US "yeah, it's still a painful death, but we added muscle relaxants so it looks peaceful on the outside and acceptable to the public?"
- hprotagonist 5y ago
  The changes are of the form that nearly every legit manufacturer of the cocktail refuses to produce it for the purposes of capital punishment. https://www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392375383/states-scramble-to-deal-with-shortages-of-execution-drugs https://www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392375383/states-scramble-to-...
- meepmorp 5y ago
  I think there's always been a paralytic involved. The idea was to knock the person out with a barbiturate, then stop the breathing with the muscle relaxant, and finally stop the heart with a bolus of potassium chloride. It's not so much to pretend it's peaceful, as it's a error in how the drugs are administered and availability of appropriate drugs.
  - jasonpeacock 5y ago
    This is exactly my point - why do something so complicated when many people die quietly in their homes from CO poisoning? Let's just setup a CO poisoning chamber to do the same thing. Or nitrogen as the article describes. Or a fatal overdose of a pleasant drug like morphine? Even the guillotine is quite humane, though gory.
    - gambiting 5y ago
      I never understood it either - there must be some crazy reason though.
      - alice-i-cecile 5y ago
        Many argue that the deliberate cruelty is the point. Also stigma around gas chambers.
      - kergonath 5y ago
        Sadism, mostly. The electric chair was painful enough but too picturesque, which makes it easy to rally against. The injections solve that problem whilst still inflicting immense pain. Which is supposed to be good, because these damn criminals had it coming. Or something.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
jasonhansel 5y ago
Needless to say, bringing back gas chambers is a hard sell.
- formerly_proven 5y ago
  Isn't Arizona planning to start executions in gas chambers again using Zyklon B?
  - meepmorp 5y ago
    They've always used hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas, typically produced from potassium cyanide pellets dropped into hydrochloric acid. Zyklon B is just HCN. Edit: not HCl, H2SO4.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

sschueller 5y ago

Or just carbon monoxide. The thing people are so paranoid over in their homes because it is a silent killer.

jack_riminton 5y ago

Some states are experimenting with Nitrogen Article from NYTimes from 2018: https://web.archive.org/web/20210704140110/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/health/death-penalty-nitrogen-executions.html https://web.archive.org/web/20210704140110/https://www.nytim...

skocznymroczny 5y ago

I am not up to date with US lethal injection, but weren't the changes in lethal injections in the US "yeah, it's still a painful death, but we added muscle relaxants so it looks peaceful on the outside and acceptable to the public?"

hprotagonist 5y ago
The changes are of the form that nearly every legit manufacturer of the cocktail refuses to produce it for the purposes of capital punishment. https://www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392375383/states-scramble-to-deal-with-shortages-of-execution-drugs https://www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392375383/states-scramble-to-...
meepmorp 5y ago
I think there's always been a paralytic involved. The idea was to knock the person out with a barbiturate, then stop the breathing with the muscle relaxant, and finally stop the heart with a bolus of potassium chloride. It's not so much to pretend it's peaceful, as it's a error in how the drugs are administered and availability of appropriate drugs.
- jasonpeacock 5y ago
  This is exactly my point - why do something so complicated when many people die quietly in their homes from CO poisoning? Let's just setup a CO poisoning chamber to do the same thing. Or nitrogen as the article describes. Or a fatal overdose of a pleasant drug like morphine? Even the guillotine is quite humane, though gory.
  - gambiting 5y ago
    I never understood it either - there must be some crazy reason though.
    - alice-i-cecile 5y ago
      Many argue that the deliberate cruelty is the point. Also stigma around gas chambers.
    - kergonath 5y ago
      Sadism, mostly. The electric chair was painful enough but too picturesque, which makes it easy to rally against. The injections solve that problem whilst still inflicting immense pain. Which is supposed to be good, because these damn criminals had it coming. Or something.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]

jasonhansel 5y ago

Needless to say, bringing back gas chambers is a hard sell.

formerly_proven 5y ago
Isn't Arizona planning to start executions in gas chambers again using Zyklon B?
- meepmorp 5y ago
  They've always used hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas, typically produced from potassium cyanide pellets dropped into hydrochloric acid. Zyklon B is just HCN. Edit: not HCl, H2SO4.