Why doesn't the US government manufacture its own phenobarbitol for executions?

Question

Not to be macabre, but if the pharma companies won't sell drugs intended to be used in executions, then why doesn't a government lab just make its own?

Answer 1

Favorite Answer

Or maybe they could pick up on the message that the death penalty is barbaric.

Answer 2

That may be what they end up doing.

Answer 3

There aren't many executions. It wouldn't be cost-effective to manufacture it just for executions.

Answer 4

The government is not a business. It is in fact illegal for the government to engage in business in competition to the private sector.

Answer 5

For one thing, the Federal Government doesn't USE it for executions. Not all states that have the death penalty do either.

Personally, once the decision to impose the death penalty is final, I have no objections to a pair of .45s in direct contact with the base of the skull. Chances of both misfiring and death not being immediate are essentially zero.

Another approach is sealing the room and pumping in Carbon Monoxide. The convict painlessly goes to sleep and never wakes up.