Press Release
Aug. 3, 2000
9:00 am E.S.T.

WHAT THE PHARMACEUTICAL LOBBY DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT LETHAL INJECTION

Last year, 98 convicted killers were executed in the United States. Almost 90% of these prisoners received their final justice via lethal injection, a process that, despite its extremely high cost, has recently gained favor in America's death houses. Just how expensive is it? Well, we don't know exactly, but a 100-count bottle of Benadryl retails for over 15 dollars, so one can only imagine what 50 cc's of pancorium bromide will run you. Whatever it is, multiply that amount by 98, and we're talking serious bucks. Serious taxpayer bucks.

The most unfortunate part about extravagantly expensive death procedures is that they're unnecessary. There is a perfectly good method of executing prisoners, one which has proven effective for hundreds of years, and it costs the public only a fraction of the price of lethal injection. It's called shooting them in the head.

Really, it's common sense. When a man, a real man, decides to take his own life (and wants the job done right), he doesn't wash down a handful of sleeping pills with a glass of raspberry zinfandel, and he sure as hell doesn't inject himself with some fancy-brand designer drug. No sir. He shoots himself in the head.

Best of all, firing squads can be assembled on short notice, using materials that are already at hand around the prison, courthouse or local tavern. It also doesn't require extensive training. If you can take his picture, you pretty much know how to shoot a guy in the head.

When the state of Utah had the honor of executing Gary Gilmore, one of its most notorious and cold-blooded killers, it counted on an old-fashioned firing squad to get the job done. If a rifle was good enough to send Gary Gilmore to hell, isn't it good enough for the soulless killers in your state?