# Why use lethal injection and not a gas chamber? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440 "2009-09-17T13:37:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Oukile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@Oukile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oukile)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/21 "2009-09-17T21:36:09Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > It’s to bad Mme. Guillotine isn’t used anywhere anymore (or is it, my impression is that the few countries to behead felons use swords). If we hooked the head up to the right monitoring equipment we could settle once and for all how long if at all the seperated head remain consciousnes. Then again can’t we just to the same thing with chimps and extrapolate the results to humans? Ja, portable IR brain imagery or EEG would do the job. However, it would be unethical to use chimps for that ! I would recommend sheeps or calves. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/22 "2009-09-17T22:45:10Z")
> [@Oukile](#): > > Ja, portable IR brain imagery or EEG would do the job. However, it would be unethical to use chimps for that ! I would recommend sheeps or calves. Or suicidal volunteers? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/23 "2009-09-18T00:09:01Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If the knock out drug doesn’t totally knock you out you may be aware you are asphyxiating and your heart is stopping but be totally unable to let people know that is the case. There are no guarantees in life. This represents one of the hazards of raping and murdering little girls. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/24 "2009-09-18T00:25:10Z")
Why don’t they use an overdose of heroin or cocaine? That seems o be a pleasant way out. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/25 "2009-09-18T00:29:36Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Why don’t they use an overdose of heroin or cocaine? That seems o be a pleasant way out. Or use the drug that put Michael Jackson into perma-sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Waffle\_Decider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Waffle\_Decider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waffle_Decider)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/26 "2009-09-18T02:03:13Z")
Breathing nitrogen should work. Based on what we know about hypoxia from accidents and researches done in altitude chamber, it’s pretty safe to say that the subject will become unconscious very quickly and painlessly. I don’t think I understand why hanging by long drop will cause instant unconsciousness. Sure, the spine is severed, so the body below the cut can no longer talk to the brain. But why would the brain immediately shut down? Since we’re not draining any blood away, the brain should still be getting at least some oxygen, at least for another minute or so. If unconsciousness doesn’t happen instanty, I’m thinking being hung with a dislocated neck is going to hurt a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/27 "2009-09-18T02:18:29Z")
Here was my plan, from the earlier Thread > [@](#): > > Execution by plastic explosive. > > Wrap a 25 pound mass of C4 around a football helmet, in 5 separately fused & wired sections. Hook it all to 5 differnt power sources, each capable of detonating all 5 blocks. > > One switch. > > Instant, utterly painless, & completely certain. I later modified it to 5 1lbs charges, likewise arranged. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/28 "2009-09-18T02:45:07Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > One drug knocks you out. > > The next paralyzes you. > > The next stops your heart. This procedure also preserves the body organs in a usable (transplantable) form. So they can be used to save lives of other very sick people. Whereas execution by gas chamber takes several minutes, and the poisonous gas goes thru much of the body in that time, contaminating many of the organs. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/29 "2009-09-18T03:01:36Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > As I understand it, the guillotine was touted as the most humane execution available. Gross, but humane. Yup. Ironically, Dr. Guillotin (he’s, of course, the guy who invented it\*) hated the idea of the death penalty. He worked on his machine in the hope that the DP would be eventually abolished - the guillotine was to be the humane “in the meantime” measure. He also wished that executions would be made private affairs rather than a public spectacle. They [weren’t](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricoteuses). \*not really : the machine existed before him, but he refined it, made sure it would do the job in one go, and lobbied in Parliament for it to be the one and only execution method of the Revolutionaries. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/30 "2009-09-18T03:14:04Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Why don’t they use an overdose of heroin or cocaine? That seems o be a pleasant way out. Seriously? Have you ever seen anyone who has o.d. on heroin? And as for cocaine, an overdose will induce acute myocardial infarction, otherwise known as a heart attack. Anyone who has had a severe heart attack can testify to just how painful and terrifying it can be. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/31 "2009-09-18T03:20:24Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Then again can’t we just to the same thing with chimps and extrapolate the results to humans? Personally, I would consider that to be far more morally reprehensible an act than that of performing the same experiment on any of the detritus that typically inhabits the death row blocks of American prisons. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/32 "2009-09-18T03:27:16Z")
Why not the Michael Jackson drug? It killed our hopes and dreams, surely it’s potent enough for real criminals like child molesters and murderers? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/33 "2009-09-18T03:53:02Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > …He also wished that executions would be made private affairs rather than a public spectacle. They [weren’t](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricoteuses)… To say the least: [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Execution\_robespierre%2C\_saint\_just....jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Execution_robespierre%2C_saint_just....jpg) ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/34 "2009-09-18T13:22:32Z")
If they were worried about ‘hurting’ him (personally, I don’t see a problem with inflicting pain on him… he didn’t think twice about it whe he raped and killed that 14 year old girl), why not give him the gas you are given in surgery to put him completely out, and when he’s completely unconscious, THEN go digging around for a vein? He won’t feel a thing and the problem’s solved. I’m a hard-ass about shit like this. I think prisoners are coddled way too much. They don’t give their victems a choice or mercy. I’m all for an eye for an eye. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/35 "2009-09-18T15:50:06Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > This procedure also preserves the body organs in a usable (transplantable) form. So they can be used to save lives of other very sick people. > > Whereas execution by gas chamber takes several minutes, and the poisonous gas goes thru much of the body in that time, contaminating many of the organs. I’ve heard that the execution cocktail is so potent, it more or less “cooks” the organs; hence, they’re useless for transplants. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/36 "2009-09-18T16:44:54Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I’ll let one of the resident physicians talk the details of anesthesiology, but suffice it to say that it is both not quite that simple. The Hippocratic Oath and the AMA _Code of Medical Ethics_ prohibits physicians from participating in injection by lethal injection, so executions are not generally conducted or supervised by people with extensive medical training (typically by someone with some background as a medic or nurses aide). Doesn’t the Hippocratic Oath also prevent the doctor from giving a woman an abortion or the means to do one herself (RU486)? IIRC, the the 1980s, only one medical college in the US still required the Hippocratic Oath anyways. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/37 "2009-09-18T17:30:14Z")
Would a mod please move this trainwreck to GD? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/38 "2009-09-18T18:22:52Z")
Since the OP was almost certainly answered, and the drift has started, let’s move this to IMHO–I don’t think it rises to the level of a Great Debate. **samclem** Moderator, General Questions ---
**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:** [September 18, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/39 "2009-09-18T19:17:52Z")
Gas chambers have to be cleaned. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440/40 "2009-09-18T19:31:27Z")
Whet ever happened to the .38 behind the ear? Cheap, simple, efficient. A tad messy, I’ll grant, but you can’t have everything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-lethal-injection-and-not-a-gas-chamber/510440.md?page=3)