Substitutes Sought for Deadly Drug

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The federal government told state attorneys general that it had run out of a crucial execution drug and was exploring alternatives, dashing states’ hopes of obtaining a federal supply of the drug. In January, states wrote Attorney General

asking for help obtaining sodium thiopental. The anesthetic is used by virtually all death penalty states, but supplies ran short when its American manufacturer stopped production. “The federal government does not have any reserves of sodium thiopental for lethal injections and is therefore facing the same dilemma as many states,” Mr. Holder said in a March 4 letter sent to the National Association of Attorneys General and obtained by The Associated Press. He said federal officials were researching alternatives. The immediate impact of the federal shortage is minimal. A lawsuit challenging the government’s injection procedures is pending, and the government has not executed anyone since 2003. Meanwhile, Ohio on Thursday put to death Johnnie Baston, a Toledo store owner’s killer, with the country’s first use of the surgical

pentobarbital as a standalone execution drug. Ohio switched to pentobarbital after sodium thiopental production was discontinued. Oklahoma also uses pentobarbital, a barbiturate, but with other drugs.