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Oklahoma says running out of death penalty drug
Reuters ^ | May 2, 2012 | By Steve Olafson

Posted on 05/02/2012 6:47:19 PM PDT by Brandonmark

Oklahoma, which executes more prisoners per capita than any other state, said on Wednesday it has only one remaining dose of pentobarbital, a key drug used to kill condemned prisoners.

One reason the state is running out is because of a ban on the sale of drugs for such purposes by the European Union, which opposes the death penalty.

Oklahoma has a single vial of pentobarbital left after the execution on Tuesday night of 57-year-old Michael B. Selsor, prison spokesman Jerry Massie said.

Oklahoma is the first state to publicly admit it has nearly exhausted supplies of the drug but other states may follow because of the EU clamp down, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C.

Pentobarbital is a sedative that is the first of a three-drug cocktail administered by Oklahoma. It is followed by vecuronium bromide, which stops breathing, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

Oklahoma was the first state in the country to use pentobarbital in 2010 after a shortage of another anesthetic, sodium thiopental, caused penal officials in death penalty states to look for an alternative.

Eleven other states also use it. Arizona and Ohio use a single injection of pentobarbital for executions while nine states use the multi-drug protocol, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Lundbeck Inc, the only manufacturer of pentobarbital, is located in Denmark and forbids its U.S.-based wholesalers from selling the drug for lethal injections, while the European Union forbids its member countries from exporting drugs for executions.

Oklahoma could resort to another anesthetic never used before in executions, Massie said, or it could try to tap existing supplies of pentobarbital.

A third option, he said, would entail going back to sodium thiopental.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Oklahoma
KEYWORDS: deathpenalty; felony; oklahoma
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What's wrong with temporarily using a firing squad?
1 posted on 05/02/2012 6:47:24 PM PDT by Brandonmark
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To: Brandonmark

Rope is cheap.


2 posted on 05/02/2012 6:49:31 PM PDT by LucyT
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To: Brandonmark

Gee, couldn’t there be any other drug that would work?


3 posted on 05/02/2012 6:51:08 PM PDT by Minutemen ("It's a Religion of Peace")
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To: Brandonmark

Why not Cyanide? Load’em up on enough Oxy/benzos, or Heroine to kill an elephant. A bullet to the head?

We figured out the whole death thing a long time ago, so it isn’t difficult.


4 posted on 05/02/2012 6:51:22 PM PDT by KoRn (Department of Homeland Security, Certified - "Right Wing Extremist")
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To: Brandonmark
Just to pi$$ off those spineless Europeans scumbags I think we should start shooting them in the back of the head just like their good pals the Soviets and the Chinese do it.
5 posted on 05/02/2012 6:53:11 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Unlike Mrs Obama,I've Been Proud Of This Country My *Entire* Life!)
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To: Brandonmark

Various other means come to mind. Not a really clever bunch if OK’s officials are stumped by this situation.


6 posted on 05/02/2012 6:53:33 PM PDT by lurk
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To: Brandonmark
Isn't Ketamine available?

/johnny

7 posted on 05/02/2012 6:53:52 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Brandonmark

Here’s an opportunity for a real gutsy decision by Obama.


8 posted on 05/02/2012 6:54:13 PM PDT by ari-freedom
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To: Brandonmark

I still think they should use LSD first, kinda
get them in the mood for when the executioners
come in wearing lifelike masks of their victim.

Either that or drano first.


9 posted on 05/02/2012 6:54:36 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Brandonmark

I know a lot of OK cowboys and they ALL have ropes.


10 posted on 05/02/2012 6:55:33 PM PDT by Ditter
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To: Brandonmark

Why rely on expensive, scarce and complex chemical compounds when a single abundant element (i.e. lead) dispatches the vermin cheaply, quickly and painlessly?


11 posted on 05/02/2012 6:56:56 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Brandonmark

"Why don't you shoot him now? I mean, come on, I'll go get a gun. We'll shoot 'im together. It'll be fun. BANG! Dead. Done."

12 posted on 05/02/2012 6:57:05 PM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
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To: tet68
when the executioners come in wearing lifelike masks of their victim.

Should I be ashamed to say I like how you think?

13 posted on 05/02/2012 6:57:08 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it)
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To: Brandonmark

The constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. It does not guarantee a painless execution.


14 posted on 05/02/2012 6:57:44 PM PDT by umgud (No Rats, No Rino's)
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To: LucyT

Electric Chair. We still have our old one in Georgia. Wipe off the dust and rewire it with new wires and we’re gtg.


15 posted on 05/02/2012 6:58:30 PM PDT by Brownie63
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To: LucyT

Rope is cheap.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So is a bullet. We could do a “Saddam” and send the killer’s family a bill for the lead slug.


16 posted on 05/02/2012 6:59:00 PM PDT by ak267
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To: Scoutmaster

No, you should not.


17 posted on 05/02/2012 6:59:10 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Do you know why I love reptiles? It's because they don't play guitars or ukuleles.)
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To: Brandonmark

Lead poisoning has been found effective.


18 posted on 05/02/2012 7:00:04 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: Brownie63
Electric Chair. We still have our old one in Georgia. Wipe off the dust and rewire it with new wires and we’re gtg.

And don't dampen the sponge. (ever see The Green Mile?)

19 posted on 05/02/2012 7:00:22 PM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
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To: Brandonmark

20 posted on 05/02/2012 7:01:04 PM PDT by Doogle (((USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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