Oklahoma Faces Execution Drug Shortage - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

Oklahoma Faces Execution Drug Shortage

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections says it has three doses left of a sedative used in lethal injections -- and two executions are scheduled for next month.     

Spokesman Jerry Massie told The Oklahoman that there may not be an acceptable replacement on the market for pentobarbital -- the first of three drugs used in lethal injections in Oklahoma.     

The sedative is followed by a drug that stops breathing, followed by an injection of potassium chloride that stops the heart. 

The newspaper reports that Massie said Oklahoma law stipulates that lethal injection is the primary method to be used, followed by the electric chair and the firing squad - even though Oklahoma doesn't have an electric chair that works.     

Executions are scheduled for Timothy Stemple on March 15 and Garry Allen on March 17.