News
Senate President Says Lethal Drug Shortage Needs Solution
By: Associated Press
Posted on:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s senate president says the state’s inability to find lethal injection drugs will likely spur a debate over alternatives.
Senate President Keith Faber said Wednesday he’s heard solutions ranging from heroin to nitrogen gas to a return to the electric chair.
The Republican from Celina says something has to be done if the prisons department can’t obtain the drugs its protocols require.
Gov. John Kasich issued reprieves Monday to 11 inmates scheduled to die next year and one in 2017 and moved their execution dates further into the future.
The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said it needs more time to find supplies of the powerful sedatives that its rules call for.
Faber says the governor had the discretion to put off executions.