Execution by gass in the US today 

I remember some evil humans doing the same in the last World War

Talking about sinking to a new low

Execution by gass in the US today 

I meant: "The United States of Germany" sorry

@stux

Is your objection to execution by gas, or execution at all?

I agree that the death penalty is wrong. But if you are going to have the death penalty gas is probably the most humane way to do it.

@freemo At all, it's super hypocrite

But gass makes it a lot worse..

That's a nazi thing

@stux

Well we certainly agree that execution is bad,..

But how is gas worse simply for being a "nazi thing"... wouldnt using another method where people suffer more but its not a "nazi thing" be far worse? Like are we really prioritizing morality by association over actual morality based on suffering?

@freemo Nicee!

Well, it's about the method in general

I'm sure a toxic cocktail or pills or whatever must be a much humane method but not gass

When a government executes prisoners it's not a developed country

@stux @freemo
You realize that they used to perform lethal injections, but they were no longer able to get the pharmaceuticals to do that. This is because providers worldwide decided not to cooperate.
They claim this is a humane way, because people apparently simply pass out by inhaling the nitrogen gas.
It's still stupid, but it's not *entirely* their fault that they had to resort to this method.

@MennoWolff

No thats not the issue, many states are still doing lethal injections and have had no trouble with supply. The issue is that we have had many lethal injections that didnt work either because a vein couldnt be found or other issues, often resulting in undue suffering. They are moving over to nitrogen gas to reduce suffering such as those unfortunate incidents.

@stux

@freemo
You're right. I forget which state this was, but they screwed up several times, with this SAME guy!😲
But the availability of the drugs does play a role. Some states stocked up before suppliers stopped delivering.
This is the biggest irony to me: they look to big pharma companies to supply the drugs which are made with the best quality control, because they are not allowed to ask a local redneck chemist to make some of the same drug. That would be "unsafe" 🥴😵‍💫
@stux

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@MennoWolff

> You're right. I forget which state this was, but they screwed up several times, with this SAME guy!😲

Indeed, and with other people in different states in a similar way. Thus the main reason for moving to gas, to prevent these sort of fuck ups and reduce the suffering of people we kill. While I cant approve of the death penalty if we are going to have the death penalty this is the correct and more humane way to do it.

> But the availability of the drugs does play a role. Some states stocked up before suppliers stopped delivering.

Yes and no, there have been drug shortages in the past, but nothing that is related to whats going on here, and was very trivially resolved. You are thinking of the fact that sodium pentathal used to be used as the sedative component of lethal injection which had supply issues in the past, largely because it isnt used for much of anything. All they did was switch drugs to pentobarbital which has no real supply issues.

There are plenty of lethal injection options, most of which are trivial to obtain.

> This is the biggest irony to me: they look to big pharma companies to supply the drugs which are made with the best quality control, because they are not allowed to ask a local redneck chemist to make some of the same drug. That would be "unsafe" 🥴😵‍💫

There is some irony there indeed :)

@stux

@freemo @stux
Thanks for the clarification.
I'm pretty sure that at the time, whatever article I read explained it that way.
Imho, trying to off someone with N2 is just as prone to f*ckups as having a machine administer an injection, but hey.
We'll see how this pans out. Let's just hope the US will realize that harsh punishment doesn't deter people, especially if they are desperate.

@MennoWolff

Sadly the news is almost always wrong in 80% of the content in any article. Reading hte news these days is the best way to be uninformed.

Chances are, as with all news articles, it made no effort to actual explain to you the facts. Instead it likely had some agenda it was trying to sell you on and make that point. Likely either how much america sucks, or how offended we should be by the death penalty. So actually explaining it honestly wouldnt have served whatever the intended purpose is.

@stux

@MennoWolff

As for being prone to fuckups.. its hard for me to see how. All of the messups for lethal injectionsa re easily forseen by anyone who has given an injection. I honestly cant think of too many ways N2 could could fuck up.

@stux

@freemo
Meh. How is making a machine that administers a fluid intravenously complicated? I would not have guessed that that could go wrong. Doctors and nurses apply IVs literally millions of times each day. I had never heard of blocked veins before that, nor would I guess that such a machine stops working properly.
...

@freemo
Apparently this guy will have to breathe nitrogen through a mask fitted to his face.
If he starts to breathe heavily, he might suck in extra air from outside the mask. If he contorts his face, it might make an opening.
It beats me why they don't just sedate these people and simply chop off their head or so.
@stux

@MennoWolff

Gas flow will be very high so none of the examples you give will matter. Even if all that happens he will still have a lethal dose of N2.

Also N2 has sedative effects and there is no suffering when you have low but sufficient oxygene. So even in the worst case its sedative effects will slow breathing and result in the situation still killing him humanely.

@stux

@MennoWolff

> It beats me why they don't just sedate these people and simply chop off their head or so.

Because there is more risk of suffering. Sedation step might not work right. It also disfigured the body for a proper funeral and is messy. A single gas that has both sedative and lethal effects is the lowest risk and most humane of any options. Particularly when its biologically simple so has no potential for drug interactions or an immune system response.

@stux

@MennoWolff

> Meh. How is making a machine that administers a fluid intravenously complicated?

I take it you arent in the medical industry and have never had to give an IV based on this statement. As I said to those who are knowledgable on this the answer is many ways:

1) Finding a vein, this can be hard on many people. In the hospital it isnt uncommon that an expert wont be able to find a vein on either arm or even the hands.

2) Once a vein is found it may not work, for example it may be a collapsed vein and wont take the drug.

3) If there is damage to the vein it may leak into surrounding tissue causing a less than lethal dose, or cause the death to be prolonged

4) if you miss the vein you may accidentally inject into the muscle or fat, again causing a less than lethal dose or prolonged death

5) Since the lethal injection is a multi-stage dose you have multiple chances for error that can cause suffering. For example a sedative is administered first, then the lethal injections. If the first stage breaks and the second succeeds it can lead to suffering.

6) Because of the increased complexity drug interactions can prevent or effect the first stage and thus cause suffering int he second stage.

7) You can have something clog up the system or a motor break or something, since its an orcastra of events this can lead to all sorts of suffering or issues

All of the above more or less doesnt apply to N2.

@freemo
Still not entirely convinced that this somehow makes it too complicated.
Re 1 and 2. I get that, but people are literally covered in veins. They can find one, and test it before the go ahead.
Re 3, leaking could happen, but it would have to be a whole lot of leakage before it becomes non-lethal. Afaik, overkill is the way they go.
Re 4. See 1. They need a skilled person, that's all.
1/2

@freemo
Re 5 just use one line one needle. How hard can it be?
Re 6 yes. But they should know what an inmate is taking, right? Sure, some drugs could counteract e.g. the sedative, but seems to me that that would be deliberate sabotage by the inmate.
Re 7. They could simply do exactly the same on both arms. Also prevents users like 1,2 and 4.
2/2

@MennoWolff

I am notoriously difficult to find a vein on. I have been in emergency situations where they needed to get an IV in me and they couldnt do it even after 3 different people tried.

But what are you even trying to accomplish here by finding ways to force a lethal injection to work? We have a far more effective way that just works as-is with absolutely none of these risks and is more humane... why are you trying to wrangle a way to keep injections alive at all?

@freemo
Yeah, understood.
I'm not trying to keep it alive. Far from it, I'm just ranting against the stupidity of it all.
Basically they are switching to another so far untested method. I get your stance of "what could go wrong?" I just see the bears on the road.
I think the real issue is that these procedures are a fixed set of steps, for obvious reasons, but changing any of those steps is apparently too complicated to do, so they go with a radically different method and hope that works.

@MennoWolff fair then, i mean look the real solution is not to murder people for murdering people...

@freemo
Yup. See my earlier comment, deterrents don't work when people are desperate.
And is easy to become desperate in the US.

@MennoWolff We have better welfare than you might think. Honestly the lower middle class in some weird ways have it worse than the poor.

@freemo
Still, the US is one of the most violent countries in the world. Millions of people struggle to make ends meet.
IMHO that leads to crime and violence. And it's entirely avoidable by relatively simple policy measures.
Yay or nay on death penalty has almost no influence on that.

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