In large enough doses, morphine depresses breathing while keeping dying patients relatively comfortable until the end. So why can’t death row prisoners use lethal amounts of morphine instead of a dodgy cocktail of drugs that become difficult to get as soon as drug companies realize what they’re being used for?
In: Chemistry
I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.
Keep in mind that the entire raison d’etre of lethal injection is it’s theoretically a quick, humane, certain, and goof-proof death. This applies to everyone involved including but not limited to the staff who carry it out, the witnesses (media, families of the victim and the executee, state prison and corrections officials) and yes, even the executee. That’s why it was embraced as opposed to hanging, electrocution, gassing, and shooting.
Opioid overdoses are often none of those things.
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