Ohio’s governor, Governor DeWine, has admitted that the state’s deception when buying execution drugs could result in legitimate users in Ohio being deprived of their medicines..

The state has been purchasing drugs for executions through its Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, without telling pharmaceutical companies how they would be used. In response, the drugmakers have threatened to stop selling drugs to Ohio altogether, potentially putting tens of thousands of Ohioans at risk.

Governor DeWine explains that this danger must be considered when evaluating execution methods.

The Governor was due to meet House Speaker Larry Householder and Senate President Larry Obhof about “where they think we should go.”

Since then Householder has conceded that he has become “less and less supportive” of the death penalty, because of its high cost and the difficulty in procuring execution drugs.

Executions in Ohio were halted in February and are unlikely to restart soon. We hope officials will take this opportunity to end the death penalty in Ohio, once and for all.