jaguar...
I'm a bit of a different voice in this discussion, because I oppose the death penalty on practical grounds, rather than principle. (I oppose abortion on principle, btw.)
Without getting too deeply into that, I'd like to say that I've done some serious research into execution methods and their relative "humane" levels. As far as I'm concerned, death by lethal injection is far and away the most effective and least discomfort-causing method currently available. It isn't rocket science, and as George_de_Vries has said, the dosages can be easily calculated to produce the desired effect.
There are 2 problems with this. First problem is that doctors won't get involved for ethical reasons, and rightly so, IMHO. Second problem is that drug manufacturers are refusing to sell drugs to states that carry out executions.
There are simple work-arounds for both problems, but since governments are involved, doing so is like getting a herd of cattle to dance The Nutcracker.
First problem is easily solved by hiring a pharmacologist who is not bound by the Hippocratic Oath to calculate your drugs and dosages. Second problem can be solved by any number of means... buying drugs "blind" through an intermediary/wholesaler instead of direct from the manufacturer, or ordering them through the State Hospital system. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Or, if you just want to go to the second-best method and avoid the whole mess, have each prisoner executed by shooting him in the back of the head with a 9mm pistol, the way the Russians executed millions of prisoners between the Bolshevik revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Cheap, fast, and there is no suffering.
But nooooooo... we have to have a big fight about it.
