I am against the death penalty and not comparing people to dogs

[dsc]

but that said, if we are going to have a death penalty then why can't we use what we use to put down dogs to perform the death penalty. I have, quite sadly, had dogs put to sleep and it hasn't taken hours nor been as cruel as what we have been doing lately.

[Warpy]

1. I can see what is wrong with their drug cocktail immediately

and think it would be worthwhile to see where so many DP states got the idea and from whom. I think the connections to the pharmaceutical industry would tell us a lot.

Of course there is a better drug cocktail. I have no idea why it has never been suggested, state sponsored murder using a drug that is clearly not appropriate, causing many minutes to a couple of hours of agonal breathing before the inmate finally dies.

I live in a wild west state which wisely ended the DP a few years ago, having used it only once since the 1960s. Were they attempting to use the same deeply flawed drug cocktail as the other states, they would be hearing from me on that account.

[newfie11]

2. I've wondered that also

I had to put my very old sick mare down several years ago.
The vet didn't even get the needle out before her eyes went blank and she collapsed.she was gone before hitting the ground.

[sharp_stick]

3. Companies that manufacture

the drugs refuse to sell it to States for use in the death penalty. The States instead have been turning to compounding pharmacies and tweaking the drugs used. These compounding pharmacies aren't publicized and neither are their manufacture methods so some people wonder just how "good" the drugs are.

That being said I'll put my toxicologist name tag on now.

The drug used to put animals to sleep commonly sodium pentobarbital or sodium thiopental normally with an initial injection of a benzodiazepine sedative first. The benzo knocks the animal out and the barbiturate stops the heart.

A lot of States now use pento made by a compounding pharmacy because it's chemistry makes it easy to create. Based on news reports it seems to work better than the other methods States have been experimenting with.

Arizona, decided instead to go with a benzo first (midazolam aka Versed) followed by an opioid (hydromorphone aka Dilaudid). This is a stupid choice for a couple of reasons. Versed is a very quick acting drug but it's short acting and it has a short half life so there is no doubt that it was pretty much cleared out before this guy finally expired. The opioid kills by respiratory depression and that's why it took so long for this guy to die, I don't think they gave him anywhere near enough, probably because they didn't want to spend the money. That being said, if they OD'd him heavily enough on the opioid I have little doubt he was unconcious while it caused respiratory depression to finally kill him like it does to a lot of addicts.

The secretive nature of these prisons and their States along with their track record of being general fuckwits in the past doesn't give me a lot of confidence that they have any clue about proper dosages or administration guidelines for these drugs.

[dsc]

5. so the manufacturors of the dog drugs won't sell?

I guess I can see that.

[alsame]

4. We love our pets and

want it to be as quick and painless as possible. I don't think that's the primary concern with executions.

[rustydog]

6. There seems to be a state-sponsored revenge factor in the death penalty

Then, when the climate is right, and you are narrow-minded and hateful and can pass legislation, you suggest bringing back the firing squads, decapitation etc. I'm surprised stoning hasn't been brought up by our Christian Republicans.
Pat Robertson can cast the first stone...right?