# Best and/or least offensive methods of execution **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966 "2015-03-14T05:25:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/61 "2015-03-16T11:22:15Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’ve heard the gas chamber is a horrible way to go. One of the issues with any type of gas execution, regardless of the gas, is that it requires the cooperation of the victim to make it go as quickly and serenely as the killers would prefer. You can’t slow down an IV or a bullet or an electric current or gravity, but you can hold your breath for a while. I don’t know how horrible cyanide gas was (relatively speaking) if the victim followed his/her killers’ advice and sucked it in as quickly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/62 "2015-03-16T11:31:07Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Apparently so. I was surprised by that as well, as I thought that the American pharmaceutical companies would be an alternative source, but some of these drugs are only available from European companies. The company being American might not help. An Illinois-based company called Akorn recently announced that it would be [taking steps to block states](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102476585) from using its drugs. It doesn’t appear to be a result of any legal action. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/63 "2015-03-16T12:51:58Z")
I’m going with the guillotine. As foolproof as such a thing can get, and entertaining to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/64 "2015-03-16T16:26:38Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > The company being American might not help. An Illinois-based company called Akorn recently announced that it would be [taking steps to block states](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102476585) from using its drugs. It doesn’t appear to be a result of any legal action. I wondered if that might also be an issue: for all the nonsense spouted about “Big Pharma” being eeee-vil, they’re in the business of making drugs to heal people. They could well have ethical concerns about their products being used to kill people, just like the doctors and nurses have placed restrictions on participation in executions. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/65 "2015-03-17T01:02:12Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Well, okay, but we must hire a cackling old hag to sit and knit in the front row of spectators. And tumbrels: transportation to the execution must be via tumbrel. Now you’re talkin’! ---
**Author:** ![CaptainAmerica\_1987](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@CaptainAmerica\_1987](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptainAmerica_1987)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/66 "2015-03-17T02:15:02Z")
I have a great idea how about lets not execute anyone and abolish the death penalty once and for all! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/67 "2015-03-17T13:58:01Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (I can’t think of any genteel way to allude to “Piss Boy.”) Don’t get saucy with me, Bearnaise! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/68 "2015-03-17T15:03:09Z")
I saw it in a episode of In The Heat of the Night, so it’s not original to me, but I’ve always liked Gillespie’s humane theory of execution: The only way you can execute a man without torturing him, is to tell him you forgive him, tell him you’re gonna turn him loose. And when you see the happy smile come over his face, you shoot him in the back of the head. If capital punishment isn’t about “torturing” the condemned, then this is really the only way. Even the French and their “national razor”, they had to carry the condemned to the guillotine in the tumbrels, where they could be jeered and had fruit thrown at them. The actual head slicing was probably painless, but the entire process was anything but. If capital punishment absolutely HAS to be done, I vote for nitrogen asphyxiation. I have this cynical feeling that the reason such a method, or a morphine overdose, is not used, is that people WANT suffering. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/69 "2015-03-17T15:07:40Z")
The ghoul in me thinks that the only way to avoid any method of execution from being classed as “cruel and unusual” is to use the same method of execution on the condemned as they used on their victims. So, for example, to execute Tim McVeigh, you tie him to a chair in an abandoned building that’s rigged with explosives, and tell him that sometime in the next 24 hours that the explosives will be detonated. Have a nice day! ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/70 "2015-03-17T15:33:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The ghoul in me thinks that the only way to avoid any method of execution from being classed as “cruel and unusual” is to use the same method of execution on the condemned as they used on their victims. > > So, for example, to execute Tim McVeigh, you tie him to a chair in an abandoned building that’s rigged with explosives, and tell him that sometime in the next 24 hours that the explosives will be detonated. Have a nice day! Actually, the British rulers in India used to punish rebels (most notably in 1857-1858) by tying them across the mouths of cannons and blowing them apart. They didn’t invent that execution method, though, I think it was borrowed from the Mughals. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/71 "2015-03-17T15:51:37Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > Actually, the British rulers in India used to punish rebels (most notably in 1857-1858) by tying them across the mouths of cannons and blowing them apart. They didn’t invent that execution method, though, I think it was borrowed from the Mughals. There was also head squishing by elephant, but I don’t know if that was specifically a British thing. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/72 "2015-03-18T09:55:09Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > Actually, the British rulers in India used to punish rebels (most notably in 1857-1858) by tying them across the mouths of cannons and blowing them apart. They didn’t invent that execution method, though, I think it was borrowed from the Mughals. I learned about that when it happened to Flashman. Except he managed to get out of it. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/73 "2015-03-20T10:22:10Z")
There’s lots of anecdotal evidence that death by guillotine is not instant, because its cut is so clean, chopping away with a sword or axe often renders the prisoner unconscious. Also it was used by the Nazis, the Stasi, and the N & S Vietnamese in the war there. Not a great crowd I’d want to be associated with so I chose ‘other’. We can kill painlessly which is why some patients choose and pay for euthanasia in the Netherlands. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/74 "2015-03-20T19:38:35Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > Snip. > > It could be the drug manufacturers won’t allow it to be used for that purpose. Huh? Haven’t people been making morphine since the 19th century? I’m sure you could find someone to make an “execution grade” morphine. I vote for the bolt gun they use on cattle. Loss of consciousness would be pretty much instantaneous. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/75 "2015-03-20T20:01:48Z")
Is there such a thing as “execution grade” morphine that is consistent with FDA standards for drugs for human use? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/76 "2015-04-10T18:23:27Z")
Reviving this zombie to post this: [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nitrogen-gas-execution-bill-heading-oklahoma-governor-30188519](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nitrogen-gas-execution-bill-heading-oklahoma-governor-30188519) > [@](#): > > With U.S. death penalty states scrambling for alternatives to lethal injection amid a shortage of deadly drugs, Oklahoma legislators believe they’ve found a foolproof and humane method — nitrogen gas hypoxia. > > Without a single dissenting vote, the Oklahoma Senate gave final legislative approval Thursday and sent the governor a bill that would allow the new method to be used if lethal injection is ruled unconstitutional or if the deadly drugs become unavailable. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/77 "2015-04-10T20:34:24Z")
3 weeks a zombie? Man, necromancers are getting lax 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/78 "2015-04-10T20:38:30Z")
A zombie death penalty thread. What are the odds. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/79 "2015-04-13T03:16:42Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Reviving this zombie to post this: > > [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nitrogen-gas-execution-bill-heading-oklahoma-governor-30188519](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nitrogen-gas-execution-bill-heading-oklahoma-governor-30188519) And following a unanimous senate vote it’s now it’s on the governor’s desk. > **[Oklahoma could execute death row inmates with nitrogen gas](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32237542)** > > Oklahoma is set to become the first state in the US to allow the use of nitrogen gas as a method of execution. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966.md?page=3)