Arkansas could be the next state to put a person to death using nitrogen gas. On March 18 Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 302 into law, which allows nitrogen hypoxia to be used to kill death row inmates. Lethal injection is no longer an option because pharmaceutical companies won’t sell their drugs to Arkansas and other states to kill inmates.
Eleven Arkansas death row inmates have exhausted their appeals. The state hasn’t executed anyone in eight years.
On March 18 Jessie Hoffman was executed with nitrogen gas in Louisiana. It was the state’s first execution in 15 years. Alabama was the first state to use nitrogen gas for executions in January 2024. Mississippi and Oklahoma also have laws to allow for deaths by nitrogen gas.
