Oklahoma would become the first state to allow the execution of inmates using nitrogen gas under a bill that overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives.
The House voted 85-10 on Tuesday for the bill by Oklahoma City Republican Rep. Mike Christian, who described the method as humane, painless and easy to administer. There was no debate against the bill, which now heads to the Senate.
Christian says the nitrogen would be administered to the inmate either by a "tent or some kind of secure mask."
Christian began studying alternative methods after a botched lethal injection last spring that has led to the U.S. Supreme Court considering whether Oklahoma's current method is constitutional.
He says prison officials in several other states are interested in his proposal.
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