# Why don't states use nitrogen chambers for the death penalty?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 8, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698 "2022-03-08T20:23:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/41 "2022-03-12T03:33:21Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#):
>
> Maybe they can find 500 death penalty advocates, half of whom would be given pure nitrogen and half given a mix of 20% oxygen and 80% hydrogen to carry out a double blind test.
Double blind? Such luxury! Real convicts only get a single blindfold _at best_.
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### Author:  [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/42 "2022-09-13T17:41:20Z")
> **[Alabama could use nitrogen hypoxia for executions in death sentences. What is...](https://www.npr.org/2022/09/13/1122620496/nitrogen-hypoxia-death-sentence-alabama)**
>
> Alan Eugene Miller is scheduled for execution in Alabama on Sep. 22. He has asked for nitrogen hypoxia instead of lethal injection due to a fear of needles, but claims officers lost his request.
Looks like Alabama is looking into possibly using this method for an upcoming execution.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/43 "2022-09-13T17:45:38Z")
Interesting. Maybe it will start a trend.
I’m generally not in favor of the death penalty, but if we must have it, it seems like this is one of the more humane ways to go.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/44 "2022-09-13T19:30:44Z")
> [@filmore](#):
>
> Looks like Alabama is looking into possibly using this method for an upcoming execution.
I just saw this article, and was going to post it.
> Inert gas asphyxiation uses gasses that are not typically poisonous, such as nitrogen, methane or **helium** , as a diluting agent for atmospheric gasses. This then reduces oxygen concentration to fatally low amounts
Why not use helium? It would be funnier.
NB: I oppose capital punishment. But I have a very morbid sense of humour.)
[https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2020/07/325.jpg](https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2020/07/325.jpg)
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/45 "2022-09-13T19:45:11Z")
If I am ever diagnosed with something like lewy body dementia, I am definitely going to take myself out with N2O. I am sure that there is a lot that I don’t understand but I have always wondered why this isn’t widely used.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/46 "2022-09-13T20:25:32Z")
It would really be a waste of helium, which is already under supply pressure. Doesn’t methane explode?
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### Author:  [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/47 "2022-09-13T20:44:20Z")
Nitrogen isn’t used because it’s too simple and doesn’t cause agonizing pain for the recipient. Cruelty is what it’s all about.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/48 "2022-09-13T20:49:06Z")
Using helium would be cruelly amusing because of the Donald Duck effect.
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### Author:  [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/49 "2022-09-13T21:52:17Z")
I find it odd the the human body goes into immediate panic mode with CO2 build-up, but has little reaction to O2 deprivation.
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### Author:  [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/50 "2022-09-13T22:25:29Z")
It seems pretty Darwinian. It would be rare in nature to encounter a situation where O2 would be taken away but pretty common to be subjected to CO2 accumulation.
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### Author:  [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/51 "2022-09-13T22:32:18Z")
I’ve read on forums for rodents that helium, nitrogen, and other similar gasses shouldn’t be used for euthanasia on them. They say that they can sense the lack of oxygen and will go into distress. This makes sense to me since they live underground where oxygen may be lacking. But I haven’t done any lookups to know if it’s true or not.
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/52 "2022-09-13T23:11:26Z")
When I was a kid, I remember reading a good way to euthanize mice is to put them in a box and stick it next to a car’s tailpipe. I don’t know what I would have reading back then with this but it’s stuck with me all these years.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2022, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/53 "2022-09-14T01:15:22Z")
> [@hajario](#):
>
> If I am ever diagnosed with something like lewy body dementia, I am definitely going to take myself out with N2O. I am sure that there is a lot that I don’t understand but I have always wondered why this isn’t widely used.
N\_2O would be very unpleasant. What you want is pure N\_2, the stuff that makes up 78% of the atmosphere.
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### Author:  [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/54 "2022-09-14T01:22:27Z")
> [@Mortimus](#):
>
> Nitrogen isn’t used because it’s too simple and doesn’t cause agonizing pain for the recipient
Also, using Nitrogen to fill your car’s tires keeps them from getting tired.
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#):
>
> Obviously I meant to say 20% oxygen and 80% nitrogen.
I LOL’ed. Somehow this thread is getting hilarious…must be all the nitrous oxide in here.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2022, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/55 "2022-09-14T02:00:01Z")
I love you!😆
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/56 "2022-09-14T02:23:26Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#):
>
> N2ON\_2O would be very unpleasant.
Why is that? I’ve seen people very happily fall unconscious after using nitrous oxide and continuing exposure doesn’t seem like the worst way to go.
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/57 "2022-09-14T02:25:47Z")
Isn’t N2O Nitrous Oxide? All of my experiences with that have been quite pleasant
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/58 "2024-01-27T00:47:10Z")
Well, Alabama’s done it.
Kenneth Smith took 22 minutes to die.
Gurney was shaking, he had violent tremors.
> [@](#):
>
> Marty Roney of the[Montgomery Advertiser](https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/alabama/2024/01/25/four-minutes-of-convulsions-kenneth-smith-executed-with-nitrogen-gas/72358038007/)reported that between 7.57pm local time and 8.01pm, “Smith writhed and convulsed on the gurney. He took deep breaths, his body shaking violently with his eyes rolling in the back of his head.”
>
> Roney’s report continued: “Smith clenched his fists, his legs shook … He seemed to be gasping for air. The gurney shook several times.”
>
> The Rev Jeff Hood, Smith’s spiritual adviser, was at Smith’s side for the execution, and said prison officials in the room “were visibly surprised at how bad this thing went”.
>
> “What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life,” Hood said.
>
> “It appeared that Smith was holding his breath as long as he could,” the Alabama corrections commissioner, John Hamm, later told a press conference.
> **[Alabama inmate executed with nitrogen gas was ‘shaking violently’ for 22...](https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/25/alabama-executes-kenneth-smith-nitrogen-gas)**
>
> White House calls death of Kenneth Smith, 58, executed via untested method lawyers say was cruel and unusual, ‘very troubling’
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/59 "2024-01-27T00:49:27Z")
Active discussion here:
> [@Alabama retries failed execution with untried method (nitrogen)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-retries-failed-execution-with-untried-method-nitrogen/996572/243):
>
> That last sentence is generally true of capitalism. The main ways that surplus population is dealt with are incarceration and death, either by neglect or judicial murder.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-states-use-nitrogen-chambers-for-the-death-penalty/960698/60 "2024-01-27T00:53:52Z")
My SDMB does not include a BBQ pit.
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