The Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced today that their already dwindling supply of pentobarbital, the drug currently administered in Texas to carry out executions, expires in September. Search as they might, they haven't found an alternative source for the drug nor have they found an alternative to the use of pentobarbital.
Texas switched to the lethal, single-dose sedative last year after one of the drugs used in its three-drug execution process became difficult to obtain and the state's supply expired. Other death-penalty states have encountered similar problems after some drug suppliers barred the drugs' use for executions or have refused, under pressure from death-penalty opponents, to sell or manufacture drugs for use in executions.
"When Texas raises a flag that's it having a problem, obviously numerically it's significant around in the country because like they're doing half the executions in the country right now," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death penalty organization, said Thursday.
"The states really scramble to go all over to get drugs," he said. "Some went overseas, some got from each other. But these manufacturers, a number them are based in Europe, don't want to participate in our executions. So they've clamped down as much as they can," Dieter said.
I'm sure it really rankles Texas that European drug manufactures are not on board with having their products used to kill people any longer. How very Marxist/Socialist/Nanny State of them. What will Rick Perry think up to make sure people can still be offed after September? As much as he may be salivating over the prospect of returning to the use of the gas chamber, the electric chair or just that good ol' fashioned branch and rope approach, he may find that not everyone will be on board with the pain and suffering they have all been found to cause.
Texas may not be able to lay claim to being number one in many things, but they have always been proud to be the leading state for executions. If they can't find a solution quickly, they may lose that coveted title. However, there may be a silver lining. Although they will be vying for the number one spot against a lot of other states, there is hope that they can turn their focused attention on being the number one state for passing the most stringent anti-choice, anti-women, or anti-LGBT laws. The world is your extreme right conservative oyster, Texas. Don't let this minor set-back ruin your day.