Ohio said on Monday that it does not have enough of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital to carry out a scheduled execution next month. As Reuters reports, Ohio is the latest U.S. state to face a scarcity after the European manufacturer banned its sale for lethal injections of prisoners sentenced to death. The European Union is opposed to the death penalty (physical as opposed to economic) and has put pressure on US States to stop the practice. If only there was an anonymous online exchange where 'drugs' could be bought and sold to meet the demands of those looking for a quick fix (or multiple executions) despite the oversight of various freedoms by governments.
Via Reuters,
Ohio said on Monday that it does not have enough of the drug pentobarbital to carry out a scheduled execution next month, the latest U.S. state to face a scarcity after the European manufacturer banned its sale for lethal injections of prisoners sentenced to death.
Ohio is one of a number of U.S. states which have been forced to look to new suppliers such as lightly regulated "compounding pharmacies," or turn to new drugs for executions because major pharmaceutical companies are opposed to use of their drugs in carrying out the death penalty.
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The Danish manufacturer of pentobarbital, Lundbeck LLC , has banned its sale to prisons or corrections departments for the death penalty. The European Union, of which Denmark is a member, is opposed to the death penalty and has put pressure on U.S. states to stop the practice.
On Monday, Ohio prison officials notified the state that Ohio does not have "sufficient quantity" of pentobarbital to carry out the execution of Ronald Phillips on Nov. 14, according to Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith.
She said the state will turn to the drugs midazolam and hydromorphone, which are not commonly used in lethal injections, for the Phillips execution.
We almost hesitate to note the irony that perhaps as retribution for pervasive US spying, Europe will make sure America's terminal convicts are relegated to more obsolete methods of "expiration" - gallows, drawing and quartering, firing squad are just some that spring to mind.