Lethal injection is the most frequently used method of executing criminals in the United States. A fast-acting barbiturate (sedative) is first injected to put the prisoner to sleep. Two additional drugs are then injected to stop the breathing and heartbeat. Death usually occurs within minutes after the injections.
The first U.S. state to adopt lethal injection was Oklahoma in 1977. The first execution by lethal injection occurred in Texas in 1982.
Some people believe that lethal injection is more humane than other means of execution. Such means as the electric chair and the gas chamber might cause more suffering. Opponents of the death penalty, however, argue that any method of execution is inhumane. In 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that lethal injection did not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Most condemned prisoners who have had a choice between lethal injection and other methods of execution have chosen the injection.
