Frank Charles, a pet-resort owner and former five-term mayor of St. Augustine, Florida, wanted a tattoo. He just wasn’t sure that he could take the pain. Then he started seeing advertisements for a place in Miami called Sedation Ink, which offers clients the attention of its licensed anesthesiologists. “You’ll enjoy a deep and peaceful sleep, allowing our artists to create breathtaking designs on your skin,” the studio’s website reads. “Join us and experience the future of tattooing, where pain is eliminated, and dreams become reality.”

Charles is no stranger to elective anesthesia, he told me. He’d gone under in the past for a nose job, a chin-reconstruction surgery, and hair transplants (twice). So the idea of being inked up while unconscious didn’t bother him at all. As for the actual

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