Oklahoma officials plan to use nitrogen gas for executions

OKLAHOMA CITY — After trying unsuccessfully for months to obtain lethal injection drugs, Oklahoma officials said Wednesday they plan to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates once the state resumes using the death penalty, marking the first time a U.S. state would use the gas to carry out capital punishment.

State Attorney General Mike Hunter and Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh jointly announced the plan, saying the two agencies would work together to develop new protocols over the next several months.

“We can no longer sit on the sidelines and wait on the drugs,” Hunter said. “Using (nitrogen) will be effective, simple to administer, easy to obtain and requires no complex medical procedures.”

Oklahoma and other states haven't been able to get the drugs required for lethal injections amid opposition from drugmakers to having their products used in executions. Allbaugh said in trying to find a supply of lethal drugs, he was forced to deal with “seedy individuals” who may have had access to them.

“I was calling all around the world, to the back streets of the Indian subcontinent,” Allbaugh said.

Hunter said the administration of the gas would likely require the use of a mask placed over the inmate's head, but he said the mechanical details still have to be worked out.

Any attempt to change the method used to execute inmates in Oklahoma is certain to trigger a flurry of legal challenges. Hunter said there is a growing body of research on the use of inert gases on humans because of its increasing use in assisted suicides, but several death penalty experts said the use of the nitrogen gas on unwilling subjects is entirely experimental and untested.