Age: 77.
AKA: Thiopentone sodium, sodium pentathol, trapanal.
What is it? It's a drug – a barbituate – usually administered intravenously.
Any side effects? Headache, delirium, hypontension, nausea, among others.
What's it for? Oh, lots of things. It's an anaesthetic; in the past, it's been employed as a truth serum, and it also has certain psychiatric applications. And you can kill people with it.
You can kill people with a screwdriver, but that's not what it's for. Sodium thiopental is used in executions in 34 US states, normally in conjunction with two other drugs. Two states, Washington and Ohio, use sodium thiopental alone.
I strongly disagree with the death penalty. Then you'll like the newsworthy peg on which today's Pass Notes hangs: shortages of sodium thiopental have delayed executions in several states. Texas, which executes more people than any other US state, only has enough supplies to last until March.
Hooray! Not to give them any ideas or anything, but why don't they just make some more? US production has stalled for lack of a key ingredient. The only American manufacturer of sodium thiopental, Hospira, has had to abandon a deal to produce the drug in Italy as the Italian government would only grant a licence if assurances could be given that the drug wouldn't be used in executions.
I bet someone – someone bad, obviously – could make a lot of money if they knew where to get some of the stuff. Possibly, but it's getting harder. Britain banned the export of sodium thiopental after supplies from a UK wholesaler were used to execute a man in Arizona in October.
Do say: "You can't give me that stuff, warden. It's contraindicated for people with a history of heart disease. Read the label!"
Don't say: "We're all out of sodium thiopental. Prepare the lethal screwdriver."
