"Corrections department renews registration to import execution drug," is by Miranda Rivers of ASU's Cronkite News Online.
The Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday renewed the Arizona Department of Corrections’ registration to import pentobarbital, the drug of choice for executions in states that allow lethal injection.
The notice comes just six weeks after the state executed Joseph Wood Jr. using a different set of drugs, midazolam and hydromorphone, in a process that took almost two hours and that witnesses said left Wood gasping for air.
“I would think they want it (pentobarbital) because what happened during their last execution was an embarrassment,” said Richard Dieter, executive director at the Death Penalty Information Center. He called pentobarbital the “most desired drug for states who administer the death penalty.”
But the drug has become increasingly hard for states to come by, as some manufacturers have refused to sell the drug for lethal injection.
And:
The renewal is just one step in what would be a long process toward the importation of pentobarbital, said experts familiar with the process. In addition to the DEA approval, the corrections department would also have to be granted approval from the Food and Drug Administration to import the drug.
"Arizona Approved To Import Drug Used For Executions," is by Al Macias of KJZZ-FM, Phoenix Public Radio.
Arizona has received federal approval to import pentobarbital, the drug often used for executions in states that allow lethal injection.
The Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday renewed the Arizona Department of Corrections’ registration to import the drug. But that doesn’t mean the drug will be used any time soon.
The notice comes just six weeks after the state executed Joseph Wood using a different set of drugs in a process that took almost two hours.
Earlier coverage from Arizona begins at the link. You can also jump to earlier news of the DEA and Arizona lethal injection drugs.
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