Midazolam, better known as Versed, is a benzodiazapine, the same class of drug as Valium. What is unique about this drug is it crosses the blood-brain barrier, which induces amnesia. Before the popularity of Diprivan (propofol) for out patient procedures such as colonoscopies, Versed was used as the main sedative. It IS NOT an analgesic, but because of its amnesic effects, one is unaware that the procedure is occurring and has no memory of it. Those convicts who have been given Versed are unaware of what is going on and unaware of any difficulty they maybe having during the process. This is not to say I support capital punishment and is not to say if it is carried out that it be "botched". All I am saying is that the apparent distress the witness see during an execution is in all likelihood not perceived by the condemned. I have been on both ends of Versed administration, as a patient in a the GI lab, and as a care provider in the prehospital arena. This has led me to believe that the condemned have no perception of their surroundings or any physical difficulty they maybe having. It is my belief that that distress associated with lethal injection is that of the witnesses. That said, I believe it is incumbent upon the state to be totally transparent about their protocol,the pharmaceuticals used in their protocols, where they are obtained and how much is administered. Anything less leads me to think the state has something to hide. If suitably strong and pure drugs are unavailable, then either the state needs to come up with a quick and efficient "Plan B" or abolish capital punishment. The problem with lethal injection is that it is an attempt to sanitize and cover up what is a dirty business, the taking of human life by the state. Death is never pretty, state sanctioned death included. Capital punishment is not intended to be a deterrent, it is punishment, period. The case can be made on both sides of the argument. I believe that the great Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov is right however when he said, and I paraphrase as I don't remember exactly, " a civilized society does not kill its own people."
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