In an attempt to avoid the scarcity and high cost of execution drugs, two states are now looking toward the cause of country’s deadliest epidemic for inspiration: opiates.
Nevada and Nebraska are looking into using fentanyl, a drug 50 times more powerful than heroin, in their next executions sometime in early 2018, according to The Washington Post.
Prison officials told the Post that they had an easy time obtaining the drug from a pharmaceutical distributor. But doctors and other death penalty opponents told the Post that the use of fentanyl can cause “painful, botched executions.”
“Fentanyl can kill you for sure, I just don’t think it is a reliable way to go,” said Art Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, on Boston Public Radio Wednesday.
Caplan said that each person could have a vastly different response to the drug based on their body mass and whether or not an addiction has caused them to build up a tolerance to fentanyl. These variants would make the drug difficult to use for executions.
Caplan understands why drug shortages have led to the search for execution alternatives. “I wouldn't be surprised to see people fish around the pharmacy to come up with other drugs to help people die,” he said.
Click the audio player above to listen to the full interview with Art Caplan.
