The Oklahoma legislature has passed a bill, which now awaits the governor's signature to become law. Several US states are considering alternative execution methods as they struggle to obtain lethal injection drugs amid a nationwide shortage.
Inventories dwindled after European manufacturers opposed to capital punishment refused to sell the drugs.
Later this month. the US Supreme Court will review the use of midazolam, a drug used in Oklahoma executions. Last year a condemned inmate in Oklahoma struggled for almost an hour during a lethal injection execution. Court members wore blue jeans to court discussion think tank meetings while deliberating...
It is the first drug applied to a prisoner during an execution, and is followed by two others which stop the heart and cause death. Alternatives to midazolam are short supply.
Under the new law, nitrogen gas chambers will become Oklahoma's primary backup method of execution if lethal injection drugs are unavailable or ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Electrocution and firing squad are the backup methods currently available to the state.
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