Fentanyl for Lethal Injections?

Nevada Federal Prison

If you’ve been following the news, you may have noticed the recent story about Scott Dozier. He’s a death row inmate in Nevada who’s literally asking to be executed. And he wants them to use Fentanyl.

The reason this has made headlines is it was only a couple of days from occurring when his execution was postponed indefinitely. This occurred over controversy surrounding the drugs that would be used, as well as how they were obtained.

Lethal injections are usually comprised of three drugs which work in conjunction to cause “humane” death. What’s been happening is that drug manufacturers have become increasingly uncomfortable with being associated with such a controversial subject and have stopped selling their drugs to prisons. This makes it difficult to execute people, right?

What we’re seeing as a result is the prisons are searching for new compounds to use and obtaining them from third party suppliers. Nevada’s corrections department planned on using a cocktail which included Midazolam and Fentanyl to get the job done. The pharmaceutical company Alvogen, which manufactures Midazolam, managed to legally restrain Nevada’s corrections department from using their drug and claims that it was possibly obtained illegally.

Interestingly, we have a few controversies rolled into one here. More importantly, this whole subject is a bit of a red herring that ignores the larger controversy; the more common use of prescription drugs in our society.

Whether or not you agree with the death penalty, the idea of prison’s breaking laws to kill people who broke laws is hypocritical at best. But a lot of people are outraged over the fact that Fentanyl, the biggest killer in our Nation’s current opioid epidemic, would be used.

Is this a legitimate concern? It might be more symbolic than anything. The drug certainly does kill people. In fact, it accomplishes this job swiftly and rather peacefully by rendering the victim unconscious and “pain free” before shutting down their breathing and eventually, their heart.

But one gets a sense of irony over the fact that we could wind up giving people, quite literally, a dose of their own medicine. A popular opinion seems to be it’s unfair that someone would get to have a peaceful death at the hands of a drug which has claimed so many lives and families miserable. I find this to be a moot point, when you consider the usual lethal injection cocktail is designed, by law, to do the same thing.

Regardless, it shows that the impact of the opioid epidemic is far reaching enough to cause outcry among people whose lives have been forever marked by Fentanyl’s destructive power. Today’s opiate addicts are willingly shooting up tomorrow’s lethal injection formula. I think THAT says more about the state of this country’s affairs than the latest sensational controversy.

Don’t overlook the fact that the same pharmaceutical companies who protest their drugs being used for lethal injection aren’t slowing up any on sending more opioid pills than there are people to some states. Really, weigh the difference in profit between a couple of orders per year to prisons, versus our nation’s demand for opioids to fuel our addiction. It’s pretty evident why they chose to take a “moral stand” in an area where their pockets won’t suffer.

Rather than Pharmaceutical companies worrying about the fate of convicted murderers, wouldn’t it be nice to see them make efforts like this to save the lives of their own victims? Let’s take up that point, instead of getting distracted by a debate about which drug is being used for the lethal injection. Doing so ignores the elephant in the room and makes less of the multitude of lives lost to the REAL problem.

AUTHOR

Joe Kertis

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Joe has worked at Narconon New Life Retreat for the past seven years, since his relocation to Louisiana. As the Intake Supervisor, he helps families and individuals through a very difficult time and take their first steps to a new, drug-free life. Get in touch with Joe on Twitter, Google+ or LinkedIn.

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