Delaware lacks drugs used for lethal injection

Delaware has 17 condemned prisoners facing the death penalty but no means of executing any of them.

 Prison officials in Delaware, like other states, have found it difficult to get the drugs used in lethal injections. Nationwide, states started facing shortages several years ago after drug manufacturers began prohibiting the use of their products in executions because of ethical concerns and fear of unwanted publicity.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show that supplies of two of the three drugs used in Delaware have expired.

Corrections commissioner Robert Coupe says his staff isn’t trying to actively get the necessary drugs, although he’s confident that the drugs could be obtained if an execution is scheduled.