# Ohio performs the first humane execution (finally) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760 "2009-12-10T19:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TheBori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee7513/32.png) [@TheBori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBori)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/41 "2009-12-14T03:53:30Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If we _must_ kill people, I would have thought asphyxiation by Nitrogen or some other comparatively inert gas would be the most humane - no needles - the subject just falls unconscious (perhaps without even being aware of it happening), then dies. Can I ask why you think that asphyxiation is the most humane? Gasping for breath? Watching your field of vision slowly close to a point before you black out? Sounds like torture to me. Mrs Bori was a lab toxicologist for a time. They would kill rabbits by putting them in a plastic trash can and pumping in CO2. Asphyxiated them nicely…but the screaming…ug. Narcotics to the point of heart and/or respitory failure (see elephant felling). ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/42 "2009-12-14T05:54:52Z")
Why not just put them under, and remove all of their organs while they’re heavily sedated, that way people get the organs for transplants? ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/43 "2009-12-14T07:05:29Z")
> [@TheBori](#): > > Can I ask why you think that asphyxiation is the most humane? Gasping for breath? Watching your field of vision slowly close to a point before you black out? Sounds like torture to me. Mrs Bori was a lab toxicologist for a time. They would kill rabbits by putting them in a plastic trash can and pumping in CO2. Asphyxiated them nicely…but the screaming…ug. one of the gasses that makes you sleepy til you pass out, not one that makes you screamy til you die. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/44 "2009-12-14T07:41:49Z")
I’ve always kinda wondered why it wasn’t an overdose of sedatives. Flood the body with them. You might even be able to use the organs (sorry Larry Niven) if the organ itself didn’t contain a fatal does. I’ve often thought that many “botched” executions might be intentionally botched by sadistic executioners, like the villain in The Green Mile. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/45 "2009-12-14T07:58:37Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Put a .38 to the base of the skull, right where the spinal cord goes up into the brain. Pull the trigger. > > It’s the cheapest, most humane method available. Turns them off like a light. > [@aruvqan](#): > > Unfortunately it is not politically correct to do that … it might hurt the delicate fragile psyche of the executioner. :dubious::smack: This is the whole crux of the problem…it isn’t finding a _humane_—as in quick and painless—method of death that’s that problem, it’s finding a method thats _pretty_. There is a story about Sun Tzu’s [military demonstration to the king of Wu](http://www.afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?l=Sunzi) which I’ve always been fond of, and which I think applies to this situation…that or the bit in Apocalypse Now about “getting off the damn boat.” ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/46 "2009-12-14T08:35:53Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I’ve always kinda wondered why it wasn’t an overdose of sedatives. Flood the body with them. You might even be able to use the organs (sorry Larry Niven) if the organ itself didn’t contain a fatal does. I’ve often thought that many “botched” executions might be intentionally botched by sadistic executioners, like the villain in The Green Mile. … Wait, really? Did you even read the thread in the slightest? :rolleyes: An overdose of sedatives is exactly what’s being used here. A massive overdose of sedatives. I strongly, strongly doubt that botched executions are due to sadism - rather ignorance and a lack of proper training. [Quote=TheBori] Can I ask why you think that asphyxiation is the most humane? Gasping for breath? Watching your field of vision slowly close to a point before you black out? Sounds like torture to me. Mrs Bori was a lab toxicologist for a time. They would kill rabbits by putting them in a plastic trash can and pumping in CO2. Asphyxiated them nicely…but the screaming…ug. Narcotics to the point of heart and/or respitory failure (see elephant felling). [/Quote] The urge to breath and feeling of suffocation is not due to insufficient oxygen but rather a buildup of CO2. Breathing an inert gas like nitrogen clears the carbon dioxide from the blood and induces rapid unconsciousness with little distress. CO2 asphyxiation is one of the least humane ways to kill anything. Elephant felling narcotics (well, not technically, but a sedative nonetheless) is _what Ohio is now using_. Fighting ignorance requires reading comprehension, guys. Obviously 20-ton presses aren’t a feasible option since the public like neat, clean executions. Pumping them full of sleepydrugs until they die seems like a pretty good option to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/47 "2009-12-14T09:12:10Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Call me a naysayer if you like, but I can see it being really difficult to get off while trying to ignore the very literal elephant in the room… [/QUOTE] Bah, you’re just not kinky enough for such a flamboyant exit 🙂 > [@amarinth](#): > > Exactly, Nicolas Jacques Pelletier was supposed to be the first in what ended up being a very long string of humane executions. The sad thing is, Dr. Guillotin was a strong opponent of the death penalty. He thought his humane execution machine would constitute the first step on the from-then-on-obvious path to abolishing it entirely. Which just goes to show, the gods have a really lousy sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/48 "2009-12-14T10:25:42Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Bah, you’re just not kinky enough for such a flamboyant exit 🙂 > > The sad thing is, Dr. Guillotin was a strong opponent of the death penalty. He thought his humane execution machine would constitute the first step on the from-then-on-obvious path to abolishing it entirely. > Which just goes to show, the gods have a really lousy sense of humor. Well, we arent impaling or crucifying any longer, so perhaps it is a start? And [faces of death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faces_of_Death) aside, we haven’t had people torn asunder by 4 horses, or drawn and quartered anybody [at least in the West] lately either… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/49 "2009-12-14T18:43:20Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > … > > Wait, really? Did you even read the thread in the slightest? :rolleyes: Yes, I’m pretty much agreeing with the method. Although I’m against the death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760/50 "2009-12-15T01:46:56Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Which just goes to show, the gods have a really lousy sense of humor. Or, at least the French! hh [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-performs-the-first-humane-execution-finally/520760.md?page=2)