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
The other answers are incorrect.
A large dose of morphine will probably kill someone. It also might take quite a while. No one wants to be there for 40 minutes waiting for the heart to finally stop. Also, the victim can vomit or even seize. It’s often not at all pretty.
The current cocktail includes a paralytic and a medication that makes the heart stop pretty much right away. It’s not gruesome to watch, and it doesn’t take nearly as long a time as dying of hypoxia does.
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