ST. LOUIS (AP) – Missouri’s attorney general says the state should establish its own laboratory to produce chemicals for use in executions, rather than rely on an “uneasy cooperation” with medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies.

Attorney General Chris Koster spoke Thursday to the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis during a meeting at Lake of Ozarks. Though a death penalty supporter, Koster, a Democrat, cited his own concerns about the death penalty.

Missouri is among several states that purchase execution drugs in secret. Critics say that if details about the source and testing aren’t made public, there is no way to assure that the inmate won’t suffer during the execution process.

Koster says the state should not be reliant on merchants whose identities must be shielded from public view.