Story highlights States have struggled to maintain supply

European makers of pentobarbital bans its use in executions

(CNN) Texas is nearly out of its lethal injection drug.

If scheduled executions this Wednesday and the next go forward, the state will have completely exhausted its supply of pentobarbital.

"We're exploring all options," said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, " including the continued use of pentobarbital or an alternate drug(s) in the lethal injection process."

In recent years, states across the country have struggled to maintain a supply of lethal injection drugs as manufacturers either stopped producing the drugs or barred their use in executions.

The European manufacturers of pentobarbital, an anesthetic, explicitly banned U.S. prisons from using its drug in executions.

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