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AP finds most states running out of drugs for lethal injection executions

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this AP article, headlined "Most capital punishment states have run out of key injection drug, or will soon," some states may need to start looking for new ways to execute condemned murderers.  Here are the basics: Most of the 35 U.S. states with capital punishment have run out of a key lethal injection drug or will soon, according to an Associated Press review.  And in many places, switching to another drug could prove a difficult, drawn-out process, fraught with legal challenges from death row that could put executions on hold. The drug, an anesthetic called sodium thiopental, has become so scarce over the past year that a few states have had to postpone executions.  Those delays could become widespread across the country in the coming months because of a decision last week by the sole U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 29, 2011 (boomark / email).