Execution drug shortage in US

EXECUTIONS in the US have been postponed because of a shortage of one of the drugs used in lethal injections.

Several of the 35 states that inject are either rushing to find sodium thiopental – an anaesthetic that makes the condemned inmate unconscious – or considering using another drug.

California said the shortage will force it to stop executions on Friday, three hours after an inmate is scheduled to die, when its stock expires.