[t0ol0gy46n2]

Alabama inmate Kenneth Smith was put to death Thursday night, marking the nation’s first known execution using nitrogen gas.

Smith, who was sentenced to death for his role in a 1988 murder for hire and already survived a botched execution attempt by lethal injection, was at the center of a heated debate over whether the execution method constitutes cruelty.

The process essentially disables the respiratory system, said Dr. Jonathan Groner, a professor of surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Some officials say that a person would likely lose consciousness shortly into the procedure, making it more humane than other execution methods. However, doctors have said that they could not pinpoint if or when a person will lose consciousness when exposed to high concentrations of nitrogen gas.

On Thursday night, the execution process started at 7:53 p.m. CT, and a physician pronounced Smith dead at 8:25 p.m. CT, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said. Nitrogen flowed for about 15 minutes during that time, and “nothing … out of the ordinary” happened compared to “what we were expecting,” Hamm said.

According to witnesses from the news media, Smith “appeared conscious for several minutes into the execution.”

“For about two minutes following that, Kenneth Smith shook and writhed … on a gurney,” the media witnesses said in a joint report. “That was followed by several minutes of deep breaths on the gurney.”

“Following that, his breath slowed until it was no longer perceptible for media witnesses,” the journalists said in their joint report.

Asked whether the shaking and writhing was evidence that Smith suffered, Hamm said: “(It) appeared that, one, Smith was holding his breath has long as he could.”

“And then there’s also information out there that he struggled against his restrains a little but, but there’s some involuntary movement and some agonal breathing, so that was all expected and is in the side effects that we’ve seen or researched on nitrogen hypoxia,” Hamm said. Agonal breathing is usually described as a kind of gasping seen in people who are dying.


https://www.aol.com/states-cant-figu...102419054.html

[jbz33]

Wouldn’t an intentional fentanyl OD simply do the trick?

[kellyhound]

what a hassle, just use a bullet in the head.

[MikeyP]

A better death would be by nitrous oxide

[HIGHTECHDUDE]

[HIGHTECHDUDE]

Contribution to the thread by HIGHTECHDUDE:

kenneth_smith_execution_described.mp4

[King Herald]

The reason people suffer during asphyxiation is due to carbon dioxide levels increasing in their blood, not because of oxygen shortage, so normal breathing of inert gases like nitrogen or argon allows c02 to be dispelled and replaced by the inert gas. The body doesn’t react to these gases so there is no suffering, no panic. You just die quietly and easily.

[houseoftechno]

Originally Posted by MikeyP ↗

A better death would be by nitrous oxide

My thoughts exactly. So the next Q that came to my mind was, will N2O do the same thing?

Nitrous Oxide readily displaces air, causing asphyxiation. A person who is rendered unconscious by nitrous oxide is likely to stop breathing within a few seconds as a result of a depressed central nervous system–brain, brain stem, and spinal cord. Depression is caused by a combination of the effects of nitrous oxide and the lowered oxygen content that occurs as pure nitrous oxide displaces oxygen from the lungs with each succeeding inhalation of the gas; i.e., the person is asphyxiated.

Tragedy can occur very quickly. Long-term exposure (several minutes) is not necessary before death occurs. Sudden, prolonged exposure to high levels of nitrous oxide, or a series of inhalations (without breathing clean air between inhalations) can result in death. The length of this action can be measured in seconds. Since the narcotic effect of nitrous oxide is very brief (several seconds) abusers tend to follow this repetitive action pattern.

If a person remains conscious and stops breathing the nitrous oxide, recovery (full consciousness and alertness) can occur within minutes. A person who loses consciousness, however, and continues to inhale a pure gas is most likely to die. Death usually occurs when abusers, in their attempt to achieve a higher state of euphoria, breathe pure nitrous oxide in a confined space — in a small room, inside an automobile or other vehicle cab, or by placing their head inside a plastic bag.

If death does not occur, the person who suffers from these symptoms may recover from all of them. The debilitating process is reversible, although some persons have experienced permanent loss of balance.

[t0ol0gy46n2]

For years I was sure that nitrogen would be the best way for anyone to go out, based on the fact that it doesn't feel like suffocation. In the Aol article it didnt sound too peaceful at all. The description in the link sounds a little scarier than the description I posted.

[Pyramid_Head]

The amount of people being sympathetic to this killer is sad to say the least.