COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio is considering adding nitrogen hypoxia as a method for carrying out the death penalty, a move supported by state Attorney General Dave Yost, who said the current system has become an "abdication of responsibility" due to years of execution delays.

Yost testified before the House Judiciary Committee this week in favor of House Bill 36, legislation that would permit the use of nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative to lethal injection. The proposal comes as Ohio’s ability to conduct executions has stalled because of the state's difficulty in obtaining the necessary drugs for lethal injection, currently the only authorized method under state law.

“An additional method of execution is necessary,” Yost told lawmakers, noting that private drug companies have refused to provide the necessary chemicals.

Gov. Mike DeWine has issued a series of execution reprieves due to the drug access issues, including recent postponements for Antonio Franklin and James Trimble. Franklin, scheduled for execution in February 2026, and Trimble, scheduled for March 2026, have both had their execution dates moved to 2029. DeWine cited "ongoing problems involving the willingness of pharmaceutical suppliers" in issuing the reprieves.

The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018.

Yost’s office, in its 2024 annual report on Ohio’s capital punishment system, highlighted the long duration of cases. The report noted that on average, a condemned inmate in Ohio spends more than 22 years on Death Row. Since Ohio reinstated the death penalty in 1981, 337 people have received 342 death sentences. Only 56 of those sentences, about one in six, have been carried out.

Yost argued that victims' families and jurors who sentenced defendants to death depend on state leaders to carry out capital punishment laws already on the books.

Nitrogen hypoxia, a form of inert gas asphyxiation, has been adopted by five states: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. Nine states currently permit lethal gas as a means of execution.

Alabama became the first state to use the method in an execution on Jan. 25, 2024, when inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith was put to death. The use of nitrogen gas in Alabama drew criticism from the United Nations and other human rights groups.

Critics of the procedure have raised concerns about the process. Nitrogen gas, which makes up 78 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere, works in high concentrations by displacing oxygen in the body, leading to a breakdown of the human respiratory system.

Following the procedure's use in Alabama, some critics questioned the method’s humane nature. The United Nations and other groups have labeled the procedure as cruel. Critics point to accounts that Smith appeared conscious for several minutes after inhaling the gas, which they said contradicts claims of rapid loss of consciousness. They also noted that nitrogen hypoxia has been used in assisted suicides in Europe, but Alabama officials used a different procedure with less supporting evidence.

Those who oppose the method have suggested that inhaling the gas could cause dizziness and nausea, potentially leading to vomiting and choking, resulting in a prolonged process. They also cited the gas’s odorless and colorless nature as a public safety risk.

Earlier this year, the issue of lethal injection drugs gained national attention when President Donald Trump directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to work to ensure that states with capital punishment have access to the needed drugs. Yost welcomed the federal involvement in a letter to Bondi, stating that without federal assistance, Ohio’s situation would likely remain unchanged.

With the legislative proposal now before the House Judiciary Committee, Ohio policymakers are faced with decisions about both the feasibility and the ethics of capital punishment methods.