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Blogs by Walt Hardester
Cruel and Unusual 2/5/2009 1:08:39 PM
Just something I thought about today. I came to the realization that the current method of lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. My reason for feeling this is, as a former medical professional, I know what the effects of the drugs used in lethal injection are, and what they do.
First the condemned person is given Curare, which causes paralysis of all the muscles of the body. This leaves the condemned person still aware, but unable to move.
Next is Sodium Pentathol which renders a person unconcious.
Next is Potassium Sodium which causes the heart to fibrillate. Fibrillation effectively stops blood flow from the heart. The heart tissues themselves are starved for oxygen and die, stopping the heart.
What I believe is cruel and unusal about all this is the fact that for a few seconds the condemned is paralayzed from the Curare and is still aware, thus they know they can not breathe. You may say they deserve to know what is happening to them, but I don't. A condemned prisoner has suffered the torment of knowing their fate for years already, dreading the time when it actually came. I see no need to further torture, and yes, it is torture, a prisoner.
The Pentathol alone is enough to kill the person. But it puts them to sleep rather than leaving them aware.
Don't you imagine that when a person was executed by chopping off their head that for a second or two they were still aware and that their head was in a basket. How cruel was that?
