In a clear nation­al trend, sev­en states (Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and South Carolina) have used pen­to­bar­bi­tal instead of sodi­um thiopen­tal in their exe­cu­tions in 2011. The most recent such exe­cu­tion was that of Donald Beaty in Arizona on May 25, fol­low­ing a tem­po­rary stay as the state made a sud­den switch to the new drug. Ohio is the only one of the sev­en states to use pen­to­bar­bi­tal as the sole drug in its lethal-injec­tion process. At least five states (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina) that acquired sodi­um thiopen­tal through an over­seas source have had the drug seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In addi­tion, Arizona was instruct­ed by the DEA not to use its for­eign sodi­um thiopen­tal just pri­or to the May 25 exe­cu­tion. Arkansas and California also have sup­plies of sodi­um thiopen­tal orig­i­nal­ly obtained from a sup­pli­er in Great Britain. In Nebraska, ques­tions about its sup­ply of sodi­um thiopen­tal – obtained from a com­pa­ny in India – has post­poned the exe­cu­tion of Carey Dean Moore. South Dakota​’s sodi­um thiopen­tal was also report­ed­ly obtained from India. Other states like Georgia, Louisiana, and Virginia have indi­cat­ed they intend to switch to pen­to­bar­bi­tal in future executions.

For more infor­ma­tion about changes in states’ lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dures, vis­it our page on Lethal Injection. For a state-by-state list­ing of which drugs are being used, and where states obtained lethal injec­tion drugs, see our State-by-state lethal injec­tion page. You can also vis­it our 2011 Execution List for infor­ma­tion on the kind of lethal injec­tion used in each of this year’s executions.

(J. Hensley & J. Walsh, ​“Arizona inmate put to death by lethal injec­tion,” The Arizona Republic, May 25, 2011; R. Tysver, ​“Moore exe­cu­tion post­poned,” Omaha World-Herald, ay 26, 2011).

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