Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas.
Lawyers for a spiritual adviser to an Alabama inmate scheduled to be executed with nitrogen gas next month said in a complaint filed Wednesday that restrictions on how close the adviser can get to the inmate in the death chamber are “hostile to religion.”
The Rev. Jeff Hood, who plans to enter the death chamber to minister to Kenneth Eugene Smith, said the Alabama Department of Corrections asked him to sign a form acknowledging the risks and agreeing to stay 3 feet (0.9 meters) away from Smith’s gas mask. Hood, a death penalty opponent, said that shows there is a risk to witnesses attending the execution. He said the restrictions would also interfere with his ability to minister to Smith before he is put to death.
“They’ve asked me to sign a waiver, which to me speaks to the fact that they’re already concerned that things could go wrong,” Hood said in a telephone interview.
Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas. The nitrogen is planned be administered through the gas mask placed over Smith’s nose and mouth while he is strapped to a gurney in the death chamber normally used for lethal injections.
You don’t want to do opiate overdose. I once found a dude overdosing. He was already at the agonal breathing stage. It sounded like a loud short snore about 1 every 2 min. I followed the sound to the bathroom. There was brown liquid leaking out from under the door. I tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. So I turned the knob and put my shoulder into the door forcing it open.
There on the floor was my best friend in the world since we were six years old. His pants were around his ankles and that brown liquid was the vomit he was choking on. Unknown to me he had been there a couple of hours.
I called 911 and they came and got him. He spent a week in the hospital, but when he came out he was different. For one thing he had lost his short term memory. He’d tell you something. Then 2 mins later tell you again like you never heard it before. But also something on a fundamental level was different.
A few years later 2 days after Christmas it was his mom’s birthday. She made him stay in the basement because she was afraid he’d embarrass her in front of her guests. After the party they went down to check on him and he was dead of an overdose.
TLDR: Don’t use heroin as an end of life plan. The margin of error is too large and if you fuck it up you’ll be tarded for the rest of your life.