After growing problems with the execution of capital punishment, several US states are looking for new methods of execution. The idea of depriving people of the air they need to breathe by providing nitrogen is increasingly coming into focus again. It is sold under the name “nitrogen hypoxia”, although it is not a medical term, but a word invented by friends of this method of execution that is intended to sound scientific. Essentially, the goal is to remove much-needed oxygen from the air inmates breathe so they breathe only pure nitrogen. Advocates say this should be painless and barely noticeable to those on death row – they point to accidents involving oxygen deprivation at high altitudes or in enclosed spaces, in which victims were often unaware of their situation.
