Ohio Faces Execution Delay as Drug Shortages Continue

The Ohio Supreme Court recently set two new execution dates, despite uncertainties about how the executions will be performed as the state suffers from drug shortages, according to a Mansfield News Journal report.

The state has acknowledged it will run short of its execution drug next year. Ohio has also faced criticism of its execution methods from a federal judge, whose ruling has put executions in the state on hold.

The prison system has suggested that the state's untested backup method, which involves intramuscular injections that could cause vomiting or convulsions, may be used as early as next spring.

Ohio currently uses a single dose of the anesthetic pentobarbital to execute inmates, but only has enough in stock to last through Feb. 2012, according to the report.

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