22 December 2019 :

Ohio 'not very close' to resuming executions, Gov. DeWine says. Ohio’s next execution is set for February, but Gov. Mike DeWine said the state is “not very close” to resuming the death penalty. “We are certainly at a standstill,” DeWine told The Enquirer during a Friday interview at the governor’s residence. The key problem: Lethal injection is the only execution method permitted by Ohio law. And the state doesn’t have the drugs needed to execute another death row inmate. “Even if they get the drugs, there is a threat implicit or specific from drug companies that if we use their drugs in executions, they might cut off the state of Ohio from buying drugs,” DeWine said. That threat weighs on DeWine. He expressed concern about veterans and those in state mental health hospitals having access to the drugs they need. DeWine isn’t the only Republican leader having second thoughts about the death penalty. GOP House Speaker Larry Householder told reporters in August that he’s become “less and less supportive” of capital punishment over the years. Both rejected a proposal from Rep. Scott Wiggam, R-Wooster, to use fentanyl seized from police in state executions.