Lethal injection states are having great problems obtaining either pentobarbital. Or else theiy can't get suitable injectible anesthetics for the first ingredient of their three-drug protocols.
Way back in the Dark Ages of anesthesiology in 1953 when I had my tonsils removed, the anesthesiologist hit me first with nitrous oxide and then ether. The combination knocked me into the middle of next Tuesday. No other anesthetic was needed.
Why can't the three-drug states replace the unobtanium first drug with mask-delivered nitrous oxide and then ether, before administering the paralytic and the heart stopper?
Nitrous oxide and ether are both freely available from a multitude of sources.
Granted, they'd have to super-glue the mask to the condemned's face after he/she makes his last statement. And they'd have to equip execution chambers with strong exhaust fans, since proximity to either of those gases can make people giddy.
Just something to contemplate . . .
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