# Arizona wants death row inmates to BYO. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 20, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295 "2017-02-20T03:11:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/1 "2017-02-20T03:11:22Z")
[Apparently](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/18/lethal-injection-drugs-are-scarce-arizona-wants-its-death-row-inmates-to-bring-their-own/?utm_term=.598da846d1db) Arizona is looking to solve it’s difficulty acquiring execution drugs; the state wants death row inmates (or their lawyers) to acquire the drugs on their own and give them to the state. :eek: Even if this wasn’t completely unworkable in practice it’d still be a sick joke. They’re basically asking the condemned to pay for a less painful execution just like in the olden days then prisoner’s families would tip executioners to make sure the head came off with one swing of the axe or a quick strangulation. Lethal injection is to “medical” to be feasible anymore; either change the method of execution or just abolish the death penalty. Mme la Guillotine is quick & painless (admittedly it’s a little gory for the witnesses). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/2 "2017-02-20T03:29:39Z")
I can see it now; the condemned hands over a vial on which is handwritten “pentobarbital” and swears up and down that it’s totally legitimate. “Sure, go ahead and inject that in me.” ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/3 "2017-02-20T03:39:53Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > They’re basically asking the condemned to pay for a less painful execution just like in the olden days then prisoner’s families would tip executioners to make sure the head came off with one swing of the axe or a quick strangulation. Huh, never heard that before. Guess that’s one form of severance pay. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/4 "2017-02-20T03:48:07Z")
And what’s the state going to do if the inmate doesn’t come up with the drugs? Extend their sentence? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/5 "2017-02-20T03:58:49Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And what’s the state going to do if the inmate doesn’t come up with the drugs? Extend their sentence? Failure to do so is a capital offense. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/6 "2017-02-20T04:03:12Z")
And I bet these same legislators would fight tooth and nail to prevent terminally ill patients from having access to such drugs. As George Bernard Shaw said, there’s no satisfaction in hanging a man who doesn’t object to it. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/7 "2017-02-20T05:14:13Z")
All right, y’all, let’s exercise some critical thinking here, shall we? Once again, someone has fallen for a story from _The Onion_ or the “Borowitz Report”, thinking some _obviously_ satirical “news” story is the real thing. I mean, just look at the URL in this link in the OP, it’s to the– _Washington Post_??? Holy shit, this is _REAL_??? It’s not April 1st is it? I mean, when I first read about Chinese [“bullet fees”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_fee), years and years ago, I thought that was some sick fucking bullshit. Now they want to do that _here_? In MY country? Jesus Fucking Christ! Plus, even China hasn’t ever made the condemned actually _bring their own bullet_–as alluded to by **Dewey Finn** , that would be maybe not such a great idea. (“Oh, yeah, that’s totally a live round. It’s definitely not a blank. So, after I scream and fall over dead, you guys will just give my body back to my family, for, uh, burial, right?”) Anyway, I think Arizona is starting to take all the “Whoo-hoo! Florida sure is CRAZY!” memes as some sort of a challenge. (Guys, it’s like golf; you want your “Stupidest and/or Craziest State in the Union” score to be _low_.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/8 "2017-02-20T05:56:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I can see it now; the condemned hands over a vial on which is handwritten “pentobarbital” and swears up and down that it’s totally legitimate. “Sure, go ahead and inject that in me.” Any of your shenanigans when we’re trying to execute you and you’ll be in serious trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/9 "2017-02-20T05:59:17Z")
Hell, why not take it all the way: let them decide how they want to die? (I’d like to go out like Land Phil in _Beerfest_) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/10 "2017-02-20T06:45:39Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Mme la Guillotine is quick & painless (admittedly it’s a little gory for the witnesses). A captive bolt stunner would do the job, well enough. Cleanly, and using commercial off-the-shelf equipment, too. And wouldn’t damage the internal organs, so they could be better recovered for transplant. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/11 "2017-02-20T11:54:22Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > All right, y’all, let’s exercise some critical thinking here, shall we? Once again, someone has fallen for a story from _The Onion_ or the “Borowitz Report”, thinking some _obviously_ satirical “news” story is the real thing. I mean, just look at the URL in this link in the OP, it’s to the– > > _Washington Post_??? Holy shit, this is _REAL_??? > > It’s not April 1st is it? > > I mean, when I first read about Chinese [“bullet fees”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_fee), years and years ago, I thought that was some sick fucking bullshit. Now they want to do that _here_? In MY country? Jesus Fucking Christ! Plus, even China hasn’t ever made the condemned actually _bring their own bullet_–as alluded to by **Dewey Finn** , that would be maybe not such a great idea. (“Oh, yeah, that’s totally a live round. It’s definitely not a blank. So, after I scream and fall over dead, you guys will just give my body back to my family, for, uh, burial, right?”) > > Anyway, I think Arizona is starting to take all the “Whoo-hoo! Florida sure is CRAZY!” memes as some sort of a challenge. (Guys, it’s like golf; you want your “Stupidest and/or Craziest State in the Union” score to be _low_.) To be scrupulously fair, the law only says that inmates CAN obtain their own lethal drugs, not that they MUST obtain them. So the OP is at least a bit misleading. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/12 "2017-02-20T12:12:50Z")
If one was a little vicious, and probably most murderers are, one could arrange for one of the pills to include cholera or plague… Not going to affect _you_. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/13 "2017-02-20T13:38:19Z")
If it were not for all the glee, there would be no point in revenge at all. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/14 "2017-02-20T22:59:34Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Hell, why not take it all the way: let them decide how they want to die? (I’d like to go out like Land Phil in _Beerfest_) Ever seen Monty Python’s _The Meaning of Life_? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/15 "2017-02-20T23:20:21Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Ever seen Monty Python’s _The Meaning of Life_? No, why? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/16 "2017-02-20T23:37:32Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > No, why? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MLctf4o6feQ/hqdefault.jpg "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - Death") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLctf4o6feQ) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/17 "2017-02-21T05:05:00Z")
“Honest, Warden! I’m brewing beer as fast as I can, but it ain’t seemed to kill me yet!” ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/18 "2017-02-21T23:43:16Z")
Interesting problem. People often ask, why isn’t lethal injection as effective on humans as on animals. There was even a Cecil column recently [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3314/why-does-lethal-injection-go-wrong-so-often](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3314/why-does-lethal-injection-go-wrong-so-often) Basically, the manufacturers of the lethal drugs don’t want their product associated with the death penalty and so they wont let them be used for executions. The nursing associations ‘strongly discourage’ their members from assisting (resulting in some pretty ghastly botches cause by barely trained injectors). Fair enough. But - if I am buying it for _ **myself** _ - I want this stuff, because otherwise the State is going to execute me in a potentially more barbaric way, why not? You are actually doing me a favour. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/19 "2017-02-21T23:46:32Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Huh, never heard that before. Guess that’s one form of severance pay. To offset the income tax burden, though, the executioners tried to claim a capital loss. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-wants-death-row-inmates-to-byo/780295/20 "2017-02-22T00:56:47Z")
It seems to me that trying to make someone you’re gonna kill do anything that you can’t physically force them to do is gonna be difficult. What are ya gonna do to make them comply? And what will stop any lawyer from dropping their client once it gets to that point?