Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen

Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen.

The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The court filing indicated Alabama plans to put him to death by nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method that is authorized in three states but has never been used.

Nitrogen hypoxia is caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing them to die. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen. While proponents of the new method have theorized it would be painless, opponents have likened it to human experimentation.

  • LargestDong@lemm.ee
    1·
    1 year ago

    “tens of thousands” isnt even remotely close. A few hundred is more accurate. It’s important to be realistic with these figures so people don’t convince themselves it is normal to do.

    • Square Singer@feddit.de
      0·
      1 year ago

      Correct, my estimate was an order of magnitude too low.

      Worldwide, an estimated 700 000 people commit suicide per year. https://www.iasp.info/wspd/references/

      That’s almost 16 million since 2000.

      In the EU, that’s ~56 000 per year (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20180716-1).

      In the US it was 49449 in 2022 (https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html), of which 6529 where <24 (can’t find data for <20).

      I didn’t specify a country and I didn’t specify a time frame. But your estimate of “a few hundred” is a number that would fit for “number of teens that commit suicide in the EU or the US in a 1-2 week timeframe”, and that was certainly not the definition I was going for.

      Brushing the issue under the table and trying to hide it will not help those who struggle with suicidal tendencies. Feeling like you are the only one going through this does not help. If you struggle with suicidal thoughts, you are seriously not alone. For everyone who does commit suicide, there are hundreds who struggle with the topic but manage to get past it. Please get help, you are worth it.