And the reason that works is that your body doesn't actually detect low oxygen. When you hold your breath for a long time, the sensation comes from high CO2 levels. That's one reason that working in a hydrogen or helium airship is dangerous, because there can be a leak and you won't even notice until passing out.

Also he specifically requested that they used nitrogen over other methods.

He later changed his request to death by firing squad, but I suspect that may have been a delaying tactic rather than an actual preference.

Which is so much better than injectables, which ARE torture. They get injected with a tranq first so they don't show signs of struggle or pain when the actual death shot is given.

Witnesses described writhing:

Smith appeared to remain conscious for several minutes after the nitrogen was activated, according to five journalists who were allowed to watch the execution through glass as media witnesses. Although the mask was also secured to the gurney, he then began shaking his head and writhing for about two minutes, and then could be seen breathing deeply for several minutes before his breathing slowed and became imperceptible, the witnesses said.

He just fell asleep.

eyewitness accounts disagree

"Smith’s spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff Hood, who’d previously expressed concern that the method could be inhumane, witnessed the execution and described it in more graphic terms, saying it was 'the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.'

Smith, wearing a tight-fitting mask that covered his entire face, convulsed when the gas was turned on, 'popped up on the gurney' repeatedly, and gasped, heaved and spat, Hood said.

'It was absolutely horrific,' he said."

"Smith, who was on a gurney, appeared conscious for “several minutes into the execution,” and “shook and writhed” for about two minutes after that, media witnesses said in a joint report."

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/26/us/alabama-execution-nitrogen-what-we-know/index.html

Death penalty in the US and not doing it correctly, name a more fitting duo

Sounds fun but it would be a horrible way to die.

2 grams of heroin would be the way to go I would think

Too dangerous. You might mis-judge the amount and just end up having a good time.

And the death penalty is not legal in many states, but cops murdering people in the streets is legal in all 50.

That's my understanding as well. So since I don't see anyone else saying this in detail here goes:

I am not a biologist or a medical professional, but this is my understanding of the process.

The human body does not monitor blood oxygen levels. When you or I hold our breath, the feeling of urgent discomfort we feel is due to a rise in the carbon dioxide (more specifically the carbonic acid) in our blood. Inhaling pure nitrogen will still allow CO2 to exit the bloodstream, so if someone is not made aware of the fact that they are breathing pure nitrogen, they won't even know they are dying.

This person knew they were being executed, which I can only imagine induced a ton of stress and anxiety, yes. However, if you were to tell me that I was being executed tomorrow but I could pick which of the methods currently employed in the US I would be killed by, this would be at the top of the list.

If you want to argue that executing people is morally wrong and we should stop, sure, let's have that discussion. However, we don't need to characterize this method as more inhumane than others to do so.

Yeah, and you know what stuck out to me in the article? That the conservative justices said, he was “gaming the system” for too long with…appeals and requests for stays…and that justice wasn’t done until he was murdered.

Like…he was gaming the system by rotting in prison? So these arbiters of justice think justice is only an eye for an eye and these prisons they adore so much are not brutal enough?