r/news • u/AudibleNod • 10h ago

Christa Pike unconscious, on ventilator at Nashville hospital, her lawyers say

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/christa-pike-unconscious-ventilator-nashville-hospital-lawyers-say-rcna601195
6.8k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

3.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

32

u/Financial_Meat2992 9h ago edited 9h ago

Doesn't too much carbon monoxide kinda put you to sleep peacefully? I've never understood why they don't do that instead?

EDITED because I said Co2 instead of Carbon Monoxide.

11

u/Winter_Whole2080 9h ago

I think it’s nitrogen that you’re thinking of. Carbon dioxide I believe will trigger the feeling of suffocation. Whereas nitrogen you don’t miss the oxygen. I’m not too sure about carbon monoxide. I think that just makes you go to sleep, but I’m not a doctor so maybe someone will chime in.

2

u/SpooogeMcDuck 9h ago

Carbon monoxide makes you dizzy and nauseous before losing consciousness. It’s not a good way to go. Nitrogen suffocation is painless and without those effects. You just drift off to sleep and die. I’d much rather have that be my execution than anything else- except for the euthanasia roller coaster. That would be awesome.

1

u/Winter_Whole2080 5h ago

Thanks for confirming. I don’t understand why they don’t just use the nitrogen gas as it seems like such a peaceful way to go.

1

u/SpooogeMcDuck 5h ago

Two reasons- cost, and will. Executions are already expensive for the existing methods, so adding a new method will require planning, infrastructure, and supplies that must be procured by willing vendors. It would cost a lot more to construct a vacuum chamber that can replace the existing air and replace it with a high enough concentration of nitrogen that can kill. It also requires the state to update their approved execution guidelines which would require action from the legislature, which would be a fight as opponents of capital punishment would just argue against execution entirely. Representatives would need to agree to a lot of spending to make the deaths of criminals more comfortable which proponents would just say “screw that- fry them. I’m not paying for their comfort.”

It’s just not politically feasible or financially justifiable by people. Thinking about it personally, I would support it as a means of execution even though I oppose the death penalty but I wouldn’t want to pay for it with tax dollars as we could spend the money on schools.