Searching for an Execution Drug

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The state is preparing for its first execution since 1997. Colorado uses lethal injection, and that means getting a hold of the necessary drug. Officials don’t keep these drugs on hand because executions here are so rare. As the date approaches for convicted murderer Nathan Dunlap’s execution, the Colorado Department of Corrections confirms it has reached out to pharmacies in the state, looking for sodium thiopental or an alternative drug. Ryan Warner speaks with Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham University in New York, who has studied the use of lethal injection.

[Photo: Courtesy of UC Berkeley School of Law]