After having trouble obtaining drugs needed for lethal injections, Oklahoma is planning to change its primary method of execution to nitrogen gas inhalation.
在注射死刑用的药物遇到短缺问题后，俄克拉荷马州计划将死刑执行方式改为吸入氮气。
It would be the first time a U.S. state uses this method of execution, though six states have gas inhalation in their laws as a secondary method to lethal injection, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
根据死刑信息中心，尽管美国已经有六个州在法律中将吸入气体作为注射死刑后的第二备选死刑方式，这在美国还是第一次有一个州利用这种死刑方式。
"We can no longer sit on the sidelines and wait to find drugs," Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter told reporters.
俄克拉荷马司法部长麦克.亨特尔告诉记者说，“我们不能再坐等他们找来药物了。”
Using inert gas inhalation "will be effective, simple to administer, easy to obtain, and requires no complex medical procedures."
利用惰性气体吸入的方式“会很有效，操作简单，容易获得，也不需要复杂的医疗手段。”
The state has not carried out an execution since 2015 following multiple problems with lethal injections.
自从2015年注射性死刑出现各种问题以来这个州就没有执行过死刑了。
According to The Associated Press, that included "a botched lethal injection where an inmate was seen writhing in pain and another inmate who was executed using a drug not approved by the state."
据美联社报道，这些问题包括“有一次注射死刑失误使得犯人痛苦挣扎，还有一次是犯人注射死刑用的不是该州许可的药物。”
Like many other states, Oklahoma has recently had difficulty obtaining the drugs used in lethal injection cocktails.
跟很多州一样，俄克拉荷马州最近在获取注射死刑用的搭配药物上有困难。
Manufacturers have objected to having their drugs used in executions.
制造商不愿意让他们生产的药物用在死刑上。
Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh described what he called a "mad hunt" for these drugs.
惩治局局长乔.阿鲍给我们描述了这种他形容为“疯狂搜寻”的购药过程。
"I got to the point in finding these drugs that I was calling all around the world, to the back streets of the Indian sub-continent to procure drugs...
“我满世界打电话求购药品，甚至打到印度次大陆的后街去找标准药品...”
The victims of death row inmates have waited long enough for justice," Allbaugh added.
“那些死刑犯的受害者们等待正义执行以及等太久了，”阿鲍补充道。
"Trying to find alternative compounds or someone with prescribing authority willing to provide us with the drugs is becoming exceedingly difficult, and we will not attempt to obtain the drugs illegally."
“找到替代化合物或者有处方资格能够给我们提供药物的人变得极为困难，我们也不想从非法渠道去购买。”
Allbaugh stated that there are 16 individuals on death row in Oklahoma who have exhausted the appeals process.
阿鲍还称俄克拉荷马州已经有16名等待被执行死刑的人员，他们已经走完了申诉流程。
The two departments are working together to develop and finalize a protocol involving nitrogen, a gas that makes up more than 70 percent of what humans breathe.
两个相关部门正合作希望开发确立一套使用氮气的方式，这种气体在人类呼吸的空气中占70%的比例。
However, breathing nitrogen without oxygen is fatal.
不过，吸入不含氧气的氮气将会是致命的。
As Hunter explained, the gas causes "fatigue, dizziness, perhaps a headache, loss of breath, and eventual loss of consciousness."
如同亨特尔解释的那样，这种气体会导致“疲劳，眩晕，也许会头痛，呼吸停止，最后导致失去意识。”
” This could lead to death "in just a few minutes," Hunter added, citing unspecified "other studies."
“这可以在几分钟内就致死”，亨特尔补充道，引用了一些未知名的其他研究。
He also stated that the gas has been used increasingly in assisted suicides.
他还说道这种气体也越来越多用在辅助自杀中。
The untested nature of the gas in executions is raising concerns from death penalty critics, and is likely to provoke legal challenges.
而这种气体用于死刑还未被测试过也引发了对这种死刑方式的批评，还有可能会带来法律方面的问题。
"This method has never been used before and is experimental," Dale Baich, an assistant federal public defender and one of the attorneys representing death row inmates in a federal lawsuit, told The Oklahoman.
“这种方式还没有被用过，还在实验阶段，”戴尔.拜奇告诉俄克拉荷马人报说，他是辅助联邦的公设辩护人也是联邦诉讼中代表死刑犯的律师之一。
"How can we trust Oklahoma to get this right when the state's recent history reveals a culture of carelessness and mistakes in executions?"
“我们怎么能信任俄克拉荷马州能把这件事做好呢？回顾这个州最近的历史我们看到他们经常会粗心大意，在执行中出错。”
Nationwide support for the death penalty is at its lowest point in more than four decades, according to the latest Pew poll conducted in 2016.
根据2016年最新的佩尤民意调查，全国对死刑的支持率达到了四十年来的最低值。
Forty-nine percent supported the death penalty and forty-two percent opposed.
49%的人支持死刑，42%的人反对。
But Oklahoma still broadly supports capital punishment, as The Oklahoman pointed out: "In 2016, more than 66 percent of the voters in the general election approved a constitutional amendment specifically stating the death penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment."
不过俄克拉荷马州还是大部分支持极刑的，正如俄克拉荷马人报指出的那样：“在2016年，66%以上的投票者在全民投票中支持宪法修正案，其中特别指明了死刑并非残忍而反常的处罚。”
Two other executions are scheduled to take place today in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
根据死刑信息中心，今天美国预计会执行两起死刑。
As Reuters reports, Georgia is planning to execute Carlton Gary for a series of murders where the victims were choked using pantyhose, and Alabama is set to execute Michael Eggers for a kidnapping-murder.
据路透社报道，佐治亚州将因为系列谋杀案而处决卡尔顿.加里，他用连裤袜使受害人窒息，阿拉巴马州将因为绑架谋杀处决迈克尔.艾格斯。
The wire service adds that "lawyers for both men have launched last-minute appeals."
通讯社补充道：“两起诉讼的律师都发布了最终上诉。”
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