From: megazone@obsidian.WPI.EDU (MegaZone23)
Newsgroups: alt.suicide.holiday
Subject: Methods file
Date: 6 Jan 1993 07:59:00 GMT
Organization: WPI USAF -- United Society of Animation Fans
NNTP-Posting-Host: obsidian.wpi.edu


Look what I had laying around... now don't supply this to a suicidal person,
it may get you in trouble, for informative purposes only, yahright....

Here it is...

==PART1== preamble

==NOTES
   This list is compiled from a large number of sources, the main one being
   this newsgroup (ASH). I have not named anyone in any of the entries to
   ensure their privacy.

   There may be inaccuracies in many of the entries... double check if you can.
   Go to the library and read up on your favorite method - check dosages in the
   manufacturer's data sheets. If you do notice any inaccuracies, please
   write to the net ASAP.

==LEGAL
   This file is provided for the purposes of amusement, and the actual use of
   any of these methods is not recommended without first considering other
   possibilities, such as dying of old age. Please do not pass it onto people
   whom you know to be actively suicidal.. you may find yourself in jail for
   considerable periods. I have a small amount of info on British law regarding
   assisting suicides; feel free to ask me for a copy. Basically, distribution
   to a number of unknown people is fine, but giving it to someone whom you
   know is actively considering suicide can get you into jail for up to 14
   years.

   I should also point out that this file is distributed world-wide, and there
   will be significant differences in the legal aspects in other countries.

==BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
   [1]"Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide
           for the Dying" Derek Humphry (publisher: Hemlock)
   [2]alt.suicide.holiday newsgroup on "usenet"
   [3]alt.med newsgroup on "usenet"
   [4]"Poisonous Plants and Fungi: an Illustrated Guide" (Ministry of
           Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods) M R Cooper, A W Johnson
   [5]"Encyclopedia of Human Biology"
   "Let Me Die Before I Wake" Derek Humphry
   "Suicide, Mode d'Emploi" Claude Guillon, Yves Le Bonniec
   "Zorg jij dak ik niet meer wakker word?" Klazien Sybrandy, Rob Bakker
   "How To Die With Dignity" George B Mair, EXIT (Scottish)
   "A Guide To Self-Deliverance" EXIT (Britain)
   "Autodeliverance" Michel L Landa
   "Justifiable Euthanasia" Pieter V Admiraal
   "First You Cry" Betty Rollin
   "Last Wish" Betty Rollin
   "Death of a Man" Lael Wertenberger
   "Jean's Way" Derek Humphry
   "The Savage God: A Study of Suicide" A Alvarez
   "Double Exit" Ann Wickett
   "Voluntary Euthanasia: A Comprehensive Bibliography" G Johnson (Hemlock)
   "The Woman Said Yes" Jessamyn West
   "The Bell Jar" Sylvia Plath
   "Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products" Williams & Wilkins Company
   "Suicide: The Gamble with Death" Gene & David Lester
   "Crisis Intervention in the Community" Richard K McGee
   "Wanting to Die" Anne Sexton
   "Bitter Fame" (bio about) Sylvia Plath (author is) Anne Stevenson
   "Letters Home" (bio about) Sylvia Plath (author is) Aurelia S Plath
   "Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones & his People" Dutton
   "Essays in Self-Destruction" (ed) Edwin S Shneidman
   "Suicide: A Study in Sociology" Emile Durkheim
   "Suicide and Attempted Suicide" Erwin Stengel
   "Endangered Hope: Experiences in Psychiatric Aftercare Facilities" David K
           Reynolds, Norman L Farberow
   "Death Wishes? The Understanding & Managment of Deliberate Self Harm"
           H G Morgan
   "The Final Months: a Study of the Lives of 134 Persons who Committed
           Suicide" Eli Robins
   "Suicide: Inside and Out" David K Reynolds, Normal L Farberow
   "Attempted Suicide: A Practical Guide to its Nature and Management" Keith
           Hawton, Jose Catalan
   "The Negative Scream: A Story of Young People Who Took an Overdose" Sally
           O'Brien
   "Caring for the Suicidal" John Eldrid
   "The Samaritans: to help those tempted to suicide or despair" Chad Varah
   "Mishima: A Biography" John Nathan
   "Self-Mutilation: Theory, Research, and Treatment" Barent W Walsh, Paul M
           Rosen
   "Defeating Depression: a Guide for Depressed People and Their Familes"
           C A H Watts
   "Depression: The Way Out of Your Prison" Dorothy Rowe
   "The Oxford Book of Death" D J Enright

   This booklist is an extended list from [1]. I strongly recommend [1], try
   getting it mail order from the address below.


==GROUPS
   The National Hemlock Society  [American, pro-euthanasia, many books,
   PO Box 11830                   D Humphry is founder]
   Eugene, OR 97440-3900
   USA
   (503) 342-5748

   Samaritans                    [British, suicide hotlines and
                                  prevention, Chad Varah is founder.
                                  non-interventionist approach]

   Befrienders International     [International, suicide prevention,
                                  umbrella organisation]

   The Voluntary Euthanasia Society  [British, pro-euthanasia]
       (Formerly British EXIT)

   Association pour le Droit de Mourir dans la Dignite
                                 [French, pro-euthanasia]

   Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Humanes Sterben
                                 [German, pro-euthanasia]

   Club of Life                  [American, anti-euthanasia]


==INDEX
   to get index, type 'grep == methods >methods_index' in unix.

==PART2== Methods: poisons

==1. POISON
   [1] makes most of these points:
   *Most drugs cause vomitting. To help stop this, take one or two anti-
    histermine tablets (travel sickness, allergy, hayfever tablets etc) about
    an hour before, on a fairly empty stomach.
   *If the drugs are in tablet form, take the first 20% as they are, and the
    rest crushed and dissolved / mixed in with strong alcohol / food. This
    helps the drugs to hit at the same time.
   *Alcohol helps dissolve the drugs. Don't drink any beforehand, but wash the
    tablets down with vodka or similar, and then drink afterwards while you're
    still conscious.
   *Use a large airtight plastic bag over your head, + something around your
    neck to hold it on. This transforms a 90% certainty method into a 99%...
   *Friday night is a good time if you life alone - nobody will miss you until
    Monday if you work. Bolt all the doors you can. Say you'll be out over the
    weekend visiting someone, so people don't expect a reply to telephone.
   *Some painkillers etc have less effect if you use them normally (tolerance).
   *In general, you need to stay away from medical help until you actually die,
    but there are exceptions to this (that have been pointed out in the text).

   Common drugs:

   ==Cyanide (HCN, KCN)
      Dosage:    50 mg Hydrogen Cyanide gas, 200-300 mg Cyanide salts
      Time:      seconds for HC, minutes Cs (empty stomach) hours (full s)
      Available: very difficult to get hold of
      Certainty: very certain
      Notes:     It helps to have an empty stomach (since the salts react
         with the stomach acids to form H.C.). A full stomach can delay death
         for up to four hours with the salts. Antidotes to cyanide poisoning
         exist, but they have serious side effects. What you can do, is instead
         of taking the salts directly, drop 500mg or so into a strong acid,
         and inhale the fumes. This will be pure Hydrogen Cyanide, and you
         should die in 10 to 20 seconds.
         [3]:
         "Hydrocyanic acid is one of the most poisonous substances known; the
         inhalation of its fumes in high concentration will cause almost
         immediate death. Hydrogen cyanide acts by preventing the normal
         process of tissue oxidation and paralyzing the respiratory center in
         the brain. Most of the accidental cases are due to inhaling the fumes
         during a fumigating process. In the pure state it kills with great
         rapidity. Crystalline cyanides, such as potassium or sodium cyanide
         are equally poisonous, since they interact with the hydrochloric acid
         in the stomach to liberate hydrocyanic acid. This poison has been used
         for both homicide and suicide; in recent history, a number of European
         political figures carried vials of cyanide salt for emergency
         self-destruction and some used them. Death resulted from amounts of
         only a fraction of a gram. A concentration of 1 part in 500 of
         hydrogen cyanide gas is fatal. Allowable working concentration in most
         of the United States is 20 ppm. Two and one-half grains of liquid acid
         has killed. The acid acts fatally in about 15 minutes. The cyanide
         salts kill in several hours. The average dose of solution is 0.1 cc.
         [1, DGHS talking about KCN]:
         on an empty stomach, take a small glass of cold tap water. (Not
         mineral water nor any sort of juice or soda water because of it's
         acidity). Stir 1 -> 1.5 grammes of KCN into the water. More than that
         causes irritation to the throat. Wait 5 minutes to dissolve. It should
         be drunk within several hours. Consciousness will be lost in about a
         minute. Death will follow 15 -> 45 minutes later.


   ==Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid)
      Dosage:    20-30+ grammes (too many cause vomitting)
      Time:      hours to days, variable
      Available: easy to get hold of (get soluble ones, & dissolve them)
      Certainty: unreliable
      Notes:     Not recommended, fatal dose varies wildly, could cause liver
         & kidney damage instead of death. OD causes strange noises in your
         ears (like a video arcade) & projectile vomiting after about 10 hours.
         Medical help generally effective, so stay out of hospital for a couple
         of days. May cause bleeding in your stomach/upper intestines. Take
         with sodium bicarbinate (eg, bicarb. of soda), which speeds up the
         absorbtion (sp?) significantly. Take 1 or 2 antihistermine tablets.

   ==Paracetamol (aka acetaminopren / tylenol)
      Dosage:    15+ grammes, 20+ is better
      Time:      10 hours fatal damage, but 2 weeks to actually die
      Available: easy to get hold of
      Certainty: fairly reliable
      Notes:     Once 10-12 hours is up, you've had it, but you still live for
         a week or two after that. Probably better to wait 15 hours just to
         make sure. Horrible side effects during this time (some of which are:
         acute toxic hepatitis, renal failure, cerebral oedema, intra-abdominal
         bleeding, aspiration pneumonia, haemophilia). Too small dose causes
         severe liver damage. Accidental deaths are very common. There are few
         if any side effects before the damage becomes fatal; occasionally
         vomitting and nausea.

   ==Sleeping tablets (see specific notes for each kind)
      * See later entries for amobarbital, butabarbital, diazepam, flurazepam,
        glutethimide, chloral hydrate, hydromorphone, meprobamate, methyprylon,
        meperidine (pethidine), methadone, morphine, orphenadrine,
        phenobarbital [also check trade names in same entries].

   ==Alcohol (spirits preferably, your choice)
      Dosage:    1/2 litre vodka?, similar. Varies from person to person.
      Time:      about 8 hours
      Available: good
      Certainty: unreliable
      Notes:     will cause liver and kidney damage if 'rescued' before death.
         Drink it all at the same time, quickly as possible. Dosage is
         questionable, I don't have any figures. Taking the spirits as an
         enema is supposed to be a very quick way of absorbing alcohol, but a
         less unpleasant way is to inject it. The dosage it takes to kill you
         depends on whether you drink normally, the state of your liver,
         whether you pass out on your back or not.
         [3]: "The fatal dose of pure alcohol in an average adult is 300-400 mL
         (750-1000 mL of 40% alcohol) if consumed in less than one hour. Apart
         from the effects of overdosage, death after alcohol consumption can
         occur as a result of choking on vomit while unconscious. .....
         Consequences such as liver damage occur after chronic consumption."
         Alcohol helps other drugs to dissolve. Don't drink it in advance, wash
         down tablets with it, & follow by drinking another few glasses of
         spirits.

   ==Water
      Dosage:    14 litres mentioned
      Time:      12 hours or so?
      Available: always available
      Certainty: unknown
      Notes:     works by washing out the salts in your body, until the cells
         fail (osmotic balance buggered up). You need to keep drinking
         continually until you collapse. Unusual method. Someone suggested it
         would also cause cramps. The following is something from [2]:
         "About a year ago a local newspaper carried a story about a
         woman who had drunk herself to death. Apparently she had injested
         something mildly poisonous, and when she called her doctor asking him
         what to do, he told her to drink lots of water and see him in the
         morning. She got to it and managed to drink no less than 14 litres of
         water before the osmotic balance in her body was so upset it could no
         longer function and she died (don't know how quickly)".


   ==Bleach and other corrosives (lye, drain cleaning fluids)
      Dosage:    A bottle (litre or half litre)
      Time:      Hours/days
      Available: Easily available
      Certainty: Uncertain
      Notes:     Bloody painful - depends on your stomach getting corroded,
         the stomach acids escaping, and doing their dirty work in your vital
         organs.
         [1] says: "I have heard of people throwing themselves through plate
         glass windows in their death agonies after drinking lye."

   ==Insulin (injected)
      Dosage:    No idea
      Time:      death in hours to days
      Available: Difficult to get hold of unless you're a diabetic or a vet
      Certainty: reasonable
      Notes:     Supposed to be quite pleasant (eg insulin shock treatments
         used for some psychiatric condition).

   ==Petrol (in lungs/injected)
      Dosage:    "A Thimble-full" -20 ml?
      Time:      Seconds/minutes
      Available: Common
      Certainty: I'm not sure of the dosage, but fairly certain if correct
      Notes:     Can also use LPG (propane/butane) on skin surface (since
         these are light enough to go through the skin). Stick your hand in a
         bucket of propane and see how many seconds you last...

   ==Oil of Wintergreen/Methyl Salicylate (in lungs/injected)
      Dosage:    Probably similar to petrol (20 ml)
      Time:      Don't know
      Available: Not available in concentration
      Certainty: Don't know
      Notes:     Don't have enough information on this one to be able to say
         anything about it. If it is just taken normally, it is the same as
         aspirin.

   ==Malathion (insecticide)
      Dosage:    A bottle (?)
      Time:      2 to 3 hours
      Available: From a large garden centre or DIY shop
      Certainty: probable, given correct dosage
      Notes:     Drink undiluted, shake bottle first since it settles. It
         causes diarhoea after about half an hour.

   ==Phosphine gas from aluminium phosphide pesticide (ALP)
      Dosage:    Single 3 gramme tablet (".. is enough to kill 10 people")
      Time:      About 2 hours
      Available: Difficult. Used in India, sold on black market.
      Certainty: Without medical help, and using fresh pill, very good
      Notes:     This is a common way of committing suicide in Indian villages.
         There is no specific antidote to this. The pills are 3 grammes of ALP,
         which produces lethal phosphine gas when it comes in contact with
         hydrochloric acid or water in the stomach. After severe vomiting, the
         victim loses consciousness, the blood vessels rupture, and body
         cavities fill with blood. While the pill is exceedingly lethal, some
         escape death because the rate of the gas' release declines with the
         pill's age and use, and exposure to moisture.  Trouble with this one
         is the availability, and it also looks like a rather unpleasant.

   ==Rat poison (Warfarin)
      Dosage:    not known
      Time:      Hours to terminal damage, days to actual death
      Available: Available
      Certainty: Certain given suffient dosage
      Notes:     This is one of the truly unpleasant poisons, along with
         Paracetamol/Acetylminopren. I think it causes cerebral haemorage (rat
         poison works by giving the unfortunate rat haemophillia). Doctors
         can't do anything about it, they just leave you to die in agony on an
         intensive care ward.

   ==Caffeine
      Dosage:    20 grammes (someone said 8 -> 10 grammes)
      Time:      not known
      Available: Caffeine tablets available in Chemist shops
      Certainty: don't know
      Notes:     I don't know very much about this.  There isn't all that much
         caffeine in coffee, maybe 200 mg.

   ==Potassium Chloride (injected in solution) / KCl
      Dosage:    not known (try 20cc injection of strong solution)
      Time:      Seconds to minutes
      Available: Widely available
      Certainty: Certain given correct dosage
      Notes:     Causes heart attack (which is painful). May be difficult
         for coroner to realise it was suicide rather than a natural heart
         attack. An excess of K+ in the blood interferes with nerve signals,
         and stops muscles and nerves from working. So when it reaches your
         heart, the heart stops.

   ==Nitrogen gas (or other inert gas)
      Dosage:    Several litres uncompressed is minimum
      Time:      Minutes
      Available: Try plumber, or welding supplies company
      Certainty: Certain
      Notes:     This is really a form of asphyxiation, (see later), but is
         particularly good since you don't experience the lack of oxygen (what
         people really experience is the EXCESS of carbon dioxide).

   ==Nitrous oxide (N20? NO2?)
      Dosage:    Unknown
      Time:      Minutes
      Available: Dentists supply would be good
      Certainty: reasonable
      Notes:     Asphyxiate yourself with laughing gas. Nice.

   ==Carbon Monoxide (CO)
      Dosage:    5% concentration or so?
      Time:      Minutes to hours depending on concentration
      Available: You get it out of a car exhaust, you used to be able to use
         "town gas" (eg, stick your head in the cooker) but this is no longer
         available
      Certainty: Fairly certain, as long as you aren't "rescued"
      Notes:     Causes brain damage.

   ==Chlorine gas
      Dosage:    not known
      Time:      not known
      Available: tricky
      Certainty: Good
      Notes:     This was used in the first world war in the trenches.
         Probably very unpleasant, does something to the lungs.

   ==Hydrazine
      Dosage:    As produced by reaction
      Time:      Not known, fortnight?
      Available: Bottle of bleach & bottle of ammonia
      Certainty: not known
      Notes:     [2]:
         "This is no joke, D----.  Several years ago at my high school, one of
         the janitors innocently mixed together half a bottle of bleach with
         half a bottle of of ammonia in a small closet where the cleaning
         fluids were kept. He passed out due to the hydrazine (not chlorine)
         gas released in the reaction between the two chemicals. This man was
         in agony for two weeks in an intensive care unit in a local hospital
         with the majority of the inside surface of his lungs damaged and
         untreatable before he got lucky and died."

   ==Chloroform
      Dosage:    not known, just put a splash onto a rag
      Time:      several minutes probably
      Available: not known
      Certainty: good
      Notes:     If you tape the rag over your mouth so that you get knocked
         out, you should die as you continue getting the stuff into your lungs.

   ==Digitalis (Foxglove, Digitalis Purpurea)
      Dosage:    not known
      Time:      not known
      Available: extract from foxgloves
      Certainty: bad due to vomiting
      Notes:     [4]:
         Gives you a heart-attack. Symptoms: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain,
         diarrhoea, headache, and slow irregular pulse. Also sometimes
         trembling, convulsions, delirium, and hallucinations. Its difficult to
         take a fatal amount because vomiting usually gets rid of it.

   ==Yew (Taxus Baccata, the "English Yew")
      Dosage:    not known
      Time:      Can be very rapid (minutes), occasionally 3 or 4 days.
      Available: Grows wild in the UK, don't know about elsewhere.
      Certainty: not sure, but it sounds good if you eat enough
      Notes:     [4]:
         All parts of the plant, _except_ for the fleshy red bit of the fruit,
         contain poisons. The seeds are poisonous, so if you eat the berries,
         chew them. Symptoms: nausea, abdominal pain, coma, death. The mode of
         death is a heart attack which occurs rapidly after eating sufficient.
         If no heart attack occurs, you'll probably survive. Sometimes the
         sudden collapse leading to death is preceded by lethargy, trembling,
         staggering, coldness, dilation of the pupils, rapid pulse that becomes
         weak, and convulsions. Other species in this genus are said to be
         equally poisonous. See "plants in general".

   ==Mezerein, Daphnetoxin (Mezereon, AKA Daphne Mezereum, AKA D. Laureola)
      Dosage:    "a few". Probably 10 or more.
      Time:      not known
      Available: Garden plant. Seeds are particularly poisonous.
      Certainty: not known, dosage is questionable.
      Notes:     [4]:
         The berries taste horrid, but you only need to eat a few to cause
         death. Symptoms: burning sensation in mouth, nausea, vomiting, stomach
         pains, diarrhoea, weakness, disorientation, convulsions, followed by
         death. The seeds can be dried and stored without affecting the
         poisons. Don't confuse this with laurels in the Prunus genus, Rosacea
         family. See "plants in general".

   ==Atropine (Atropa Belladonna AKA Deadly Nightshade. Also potato fruits)
      Dosage:    5 berries in young children.. maybe 30 in adults?
      Time:      6 to 24 hours
      Available: from fruits of some plants in the potato family.
      Certainty: unknown, particularly dosage is questionable
      Notes:     [4]:
         AB also contains hyoscyamine and hyoscine (scopolamine). Symptoms:
         dry mouth, flushed face, dilation of pupils, rapid pulse. Possibly
         also breathing difficulties, constipation, convulsions,
         hallucinations, and coma. AB is often confused with other Nightshade
         species, which aren't as poisonous. The berries are black in AB, and
         red in Woody Nightshade. In addition, the flowers are larger (1.2 in)
         in the true Deadly Nightshade.
         Present in unripe deadly nightshake fruits, fruits of potato, and
         fruits of other members of this family (not tomato though!), but stick
         with AB. See the "plants in general" entry.

   ==Oleander (Nerium Oleander. Poison similar to digitalis)
      Dosage:    not known, but fairly small amounts.
      Time:      unknown.
      Available: leaves, wood of the plant. From garden centres.
      Certainty: unknown.
      Notes:     [4]:
         Deaths have been caused by using wood from this plant in fires, and
         making tea from the leaves. In a few hours there is abdominal pain,
         nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, rapid pulse, and visual effects.
         Later, a slow, weak, irregular pulse and fall in blood pressure,
         followed by failure of heart. See the "plants in general" entry.

   ==Death-Cap / Destroying-Angel toadstool  (Amanita Phalloides)
      Dosage:    Fraction of one can kill, but eat 1 or 2 just in case.
      Time:      Week or so
      Available: Have to know what it looks like.. similar edible ones
      Certainty: Definite without med. treatment; unknown with.
      Notes:     [5, Volume 7, pp591-592]:
         "Poisoning by toxic Amanita species is characterised by a delay in
         onset of 4 to 12 hours. At this point, nausea vomiting, colic-like
         pain, and diarrhea occur. There then follows a period of respite,
         which can last for two to four days. This phase does NOT signify
         recovery: damage to the liver and kidneys continues to develop and
         the respite gives way to hepatic and renal failure. Death usually
         occurs a week or so after poisoning.". See "plants in general".

   ==Ricin (Castor oil plant, Ricinus Communis)
      Dosage:    death has occured from eating 1 bean, but take more than 10
      Time:      within 3 to 5 days
      Available: From eating the castor beans
      Certainty: depends on ricin content of the beans. Pure ricin is deadly
      Notes:     [2] and [4]:
         Symptoms begin within a few hours with abdominal pain, vomiting and
         bloody diarrhoea for several days. Decreased production of urine and
         a fall in blood pressure. Note that people have survived eating more
         than 10 beans, *with treatment*. Presumably the fatal dose without
         medical intervention is less. Surviving more than 3 to 5 days usually
         means recovery. Ricin is described as "..one of the most potent toxins
         known".
         In 1978 a Bulgarian journalist (Georgi Markov) was assassinated in
         London by being prodded with an umbrella. The umbrella had a tiny ball
         coated with ricin on its tip, which lodged into the dissident. He
         died a few days later in hospital. See "plants in general".

   ==Colchicine (Acetyltrimethylcolchicinic acid, Autumn Crocus, Royal Lily)
      Dosage:    7 mg to 60 mg  (why so wide variation?)
      Time:      symptoms in about 4 hours, death in about 4 days
      Available: Easily available (from large garden centre)
      Certainty: certain
      Notes:     [New Scientist article:]
         From the Autumn crocus (Colchicum Autumnale) / royal lily (Gloriosa
         Superba). One flower of CA is about 12 mg, so take at least five of
         them. 20g tuber of GS provides 60mg, single seed of CA provides 3.5mg
         (so take 18). Damages blood vessels and nerves, and stops cell
         division. Don't know whether its painful or not, but that bit about
         damaging nerves is worrying. I just _love_ the name of the acid! See
         See the "plants in general" entry.

   ==Aconitine (AKA Wolfsbane, Monkshood, aconitum napellus, a. anglicum)
      Dosage:    "a few grams"
      Time:      10 mins to few hours
      Available: Garden plant, so get from garden centre
      Certainty: unknown (can be treated in hospital)
      Notes:     [2] and [4]:
         The poison is concentrated in the unripe seed pods and roots.
         During winter, the roots are particularly poisonous. Symptoms develop
         in less than an hour. Burning sensation, feelings of coldness,
         sweating. Later, numbness, vomiting and diarrhoea with abdominal pain.
         Finally, slow pulse, convulsions and coma. Death may occur within 2
         hours. The poison kills by causing a cardiac failure, and it is
         painful. See the "plants in general" comment.

   ==Cicutoxin (Cowbane, Cicuta Virosa)
      Dosage:    ".. a few bites .. can cause serious poisoning or death".
      Time:      a few hours or more.
      Available: rare in most parts of UK, don't know about elsewhere.
      Certainty: good, but resembles wild carrot & wild parsnip.
      Notes:     [4]:
         The poison is strongest in the yellow juice of the underground parts.
         Symptoms after half an hour: burning of mouth, excessive saliva,
         flushing, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, dilation of pupils, and later a
         bluish tinge to the skin. Muscular contractions and convulsions, with
         difficulties in breathing are followed by unconsciousness and death,
         often within a few hours of eating the plant. See "plants in general".

   ==Coniine, Gamma-Coniceine, others (Hemlock, Conium Maculatum)
      Dosage:    unknown
      Time:      unknown
      Available: Grows throughout UK, except north. Don't know about elsewhere.
      Certainty: unknown
      Notes:     [4]:
         NOTE: There are many plants called "hemlock", some of which aren't
         poisonous at all. It can also be mistaken for wild parsley and carrot,
         and is in the same family as Cowbane.
         Symptoms appear in 15 mins to 2 hours. Initially burning and dryness
         of the mouth, muscular weakness leading to paralysis that affects the
         breathing. Sometimes also dilation of pupils, vomiting, diarrhoea,
         convulsions, and loss of consciousness. If this is survived, birth
         defects may be caused in pregnant women.
         This is said to be the plant that Socrates took in 399 BC.

   ==Oenanthetoxin (Hemlock Water Dropwort, Oenanthe Eroeata)
      Dosage:    "..dangerously poisonous, even in small quantities".
      Time:      Two to twelve hours.
      Available: Grows in chalky wet areas, particularly S and W Britain.
      Certainty: Fairly good, if you get the right species.
      Notes:     [4]:
         The tubers contain more poison than the rest of the plant,
         particularly in winter and early spring, and may be cooked or dried.
         Symptoms within an hour or two, nausea, salivation, vomiting,
         diarrhoea, sweating, weakness of legs, dilation of pupils. Later loss
         of consciousness with convulsions before death. See "plants in
         general" entry. Same family as Hemlock.

   ==plants in general (hemlock, foxglove, oleander)
      Dosage:    N/A
      Time:      N/A
      Available: garden centre
      Certainty: questionable
      Notes:     [1] says:
         "Everything I have ever read about death from plant poisoning
         indicates that it is risky and painful. Symptoms range from nausea and
         vomiting to cramping and bloody diarrhea. .... .. Altogether, I
         consider poisonous plants as a means of exit far too unreliable and
         painful. No matter how desperate you are, don't even think about it!"

   ==Nicotine (yep - distilled fags!)
      Dosage:    extract from 100g tabacco   (possibly 150mg pure)
      Time:      not known  (possibly several seconds for 150mg pure)
      Available: Easily available
      Certainty: not known
      Notes:     [2]:
         Soak 100 grammes of tabacco for a few days. You get a brown
         mess. Strain off the tabacco, then simmer slowly until most of the
         liquid has gone, leaving about 2 teaspoons of brown treacle-like
         stuff. Add it to your night-time drink, and never wake up. Someone
         said the other day that 150mg of pure nicotine would be fatal in
         seconds. See the "plants in general" entry.

   ==Iron (diet suppliments)
      Dosage:    unknown
      Time:      unknown
      Available: diet, health food shops
      Certainty: good
      Notes:     [2]:
         "Well it seems that iron pills achieve death. They oxydize in the
         stomach and eat a hole in it. The only reason I know this is that
         someone at my school just recently OD'd and died from this. It was
         ruled suicide since no person could accidently take that many iron
         pills. They didn't say how many she took or how many it takes to kill
         yourself though." [sounds unpleasant]

   ==Cocaine
      Dosage:    1 ounce (don't know what that is in real weights..)
      Time:      2 to 3 hours?
      Available: Difficult
      Certainty: not known
      Notes:     Read something in a newspaper... a coke dealer died after
         eating an ounce of it, when the police raided his house. Cause of
         death was a cardiac arrest 2 1/2 hours after the overdose. However, a
         cocaine OD is painful, and causes paranoia / breathing problems. One
         form of cocaine smuggling is to swallow condoms filled with the stuff.
         From time to time, a "mule" has a condom burst inside him, and dies in
         pain reasonably quickly.

   ==LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) nonfatal
      Dosage:    infinite!
      Time:      never
      Available: who cares?
      Certainty: will not kill you
      Notes:     LSD can't kill you by overdose.. you might go psychotic if you
         take tens/hundreds of thousands of times the normal dose, but thats
         hardly surprising, since you'd have to be insane to take that much in
         the first place. General warning - even for normal use, if you are
         depressed, it'll just amplify the depression, not lift it, and the
         chances of a bad trip are probably higher. Probably, the only way to
         kill yourself with this stuff is to drop two tonnes of it on yourself.

   ==Heroin (morphine)
      Dosage:    120 to 500 mg in non-users.
      Time:      unknown
      Available: From your friendly neighbourhood drug dealer.
      Certainty: unknown
      Notes:     Combine it with alcohol, since a combination of alc & H is
         much more dangerous than alc or H alone.

   ==Rotenone
      Dosage:    very low, similar to cyanide
      Time:      depends on dosage
      Available: extremely difficult
      Certainty: probable
      Notes:     Rotenone is used by microbiologists to kill potentially
         dangerous bacteria cultures. It is extremely poisonous.

   ==Mercury (salts, soluble)
      Dosage:    1 gramme of salts
      Time:      unknown
      Available: unknown (what are the _soluble_ salts? how to make?)
      Certainty: good
      Notes:     Note that contrary to popular opinion, pure mercury metal isn't
         all that poisonous. The soluble salts are, however. The "mad hatter"
         story refers to brain damage that hat makers used to get from using
         mercury salts.

   ==Amobarbital (amytal, amal, eunoctal, etamyl, stadadorm)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    4.5 grammes, typically 90 50mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable
      Notes:     use an airtight plastic bag, and a rubber band to get a very
         effective method. Alcohol speeds it up and makes it more reliable.
         Take an antihistermine about 10 minutes earlier. Empty stomach.
         Dissolve most of them in drink / food, and eat the remaining ones
         first so that it all peaks at the same time.


   ==Butabarbital (secbutobarbitone, butisol, ethnor)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    3 grammes, typically 100 30mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach.


   ==Codeine (combo. with Aspirin: Empirin compound no. I -> IV)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    2.4 grammes, typically 80 30mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Diazepam (valium, apozepam, aliseum, ducene)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    500 milligrammes, typically 100 5mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else (alcohol?)
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. Valium is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes it more certain.


   ==Flurazepam (dalmane, dalmadorm, niotal)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    3 grammes, typically 100 30mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with other
         drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Gluthethimide (doriden, doridene, glimid)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    24 grammes, typically 48 500mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with other
         drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Chloral Hydrate (noctec, chloratex, somnox)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    >10+ grammes, typically 20+ 500mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Hydromorphone (dilaudid, pentagone)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    100 -> 200 milligrammes, typically 50 -> 100 2mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Meprobamate (miltown, equanil)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    45 grammes, typically 112 400mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Methyprylon (noludar)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    15 grammes, typically 50 300mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Meperidine (pethidine, demerol, dolantin)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    3.6 grammes, typically 72 50mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Methadone (dolophine, adanon)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    300 milligrammes, typically 60 5mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Morphine (in Brompton's mixtures)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    200 milligrammes, typically 14 15mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Phenobarbital (luminal, gardenal, fenical)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    4.5 grammes, typically 150 30mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Secobarbital (quinalbarbitone, seconal, immenox, dormona, secogen, .....
   == ..... seral, vesperax (combo with brallobarbital))
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    4.5 grammes, typically 45 100mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach. [Vesperax is Humphry's favorite]


   ==Propoxyphene (darvon, dolotard, abalgin, antalvic, depronal)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    2 grammes, typically 30 65mg tablets
      Time:      death in an hour or so. Does not make you unconscious
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: suggest combine with something to make you sleep, then use bag
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach.  Since this one doesn't make you unconscious for a
         long time, try combining with one that does, so you can use
         the good old bag method.


   ==Pentobarbital (nembutal, carbrital only if in combo with pentobarbital)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    3 grammes, typically 30 100mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistermine on an empty
         stomach.

==PART3== Methods: other than poisoning

==2. HANGING
   ==1. asphyxiation (dangle on end of rope for 10 minutes)
      Time:      5 to 10 minutes
      Available: Rope, solid support 10 foot above ground
      Certainty: Fairly certain (discovery, rope/support snapping)
      Notes:     Brain damage likely if rescued. Very painful depending on
         rope. Most common effective form of suicide in UK. See "Asphyxiation".

   ==2. breaking neck
      Time:      Should be instant if it does break. See previous if not
      Available: Rope, solid support, 10 foot space below, several above
      Certainty: Very certain if the rope/support doesn't break
      Notes:     Minimal danger of discovery (depends on location). Painless
         if you drop far enough (8 foot is optimum). Make sure that the rope
         is tied securely to something STRONG!! It has to support your weight
         MULTIPLIED by the deccelleration. Use a hangman's knot (with the knot
         at the back of your neck). It doesn't always work this well though,
         you might get a bust jaw / lacerations etc and then asphyxiate.


==3. JUMPING OFF BUILDINGS
   Time:      Instantanious if you are lucky, minutes/hours otherwise
   Available: You need ten stories or higher, and access to the top floor
              windows/roof. Bring a bolt cutter to get onto the roof
   Certainty: 90% for 6 stories, increasing after that
   Notes:     Difficult to overcome fear of heights, many people can't do it.
      Totally painless if high enough, but very frightening. Easily discovered
      if seen on/near roof/windows. Access fairly easy in a city, otherwise
      difficult. Risk of spending the rest of your life in a wheelchair. Ever
      tried killing yourself if you are paralysed from the neck down? Email
      conversations suggest 10+ stories works ALMOST all of the time. Try to
      land on concrete. Quote - "9 out of 10 people who fall 6 stories will
      die". Note that it may take a while for many of those 90% to die.

==4. SLITTING WRISTS OR OTHER (often not effective)
   Time:      Minutes if major artery cut, eternity otherwise.
   Available: You really need a razor sharp knife. Razors are pretty tricky
              to hold when they are covered with blood.
   Certainty: possible if you cut an artery, improbable otherwise
   Notes:     Painful at first. Danger of discovery. This is a very common
      suicide 'gesture' and hardly ever results in anything other than a scar.
      A lot of will power required to cut deeply into groin or carotid
      arteries, which are the only ones likely to kill you. Don't bother with
      this method. Cutting your throat is difficult due to the fact that the
      carotid arteries are protected by your windpipe (feel where your arteries
      are with your fingertips, & slice from the side). I've seen photos of
      people who have used this method - the depth of the cut required is
      amazing. If you want to cut your wrists, cut along the blue line (vein)
      on the underside of your wrist, but cut deeply so that the artery
      underneath is exposed. Cut this lengthways with a razor or similar. The
      traditional hot bath does help, since it keeps the blood flowing quickly,
      slows down clotting, and is nice to lie back and relax in. Position
      yourself so that your wrists don't fall inwards against your body,
      blocking off blood flow.

==5. BULLET
   Time:      Microseconds unless you are unlucky (mins/hours)
   Available: Difficult in UK, easier in USA (get a shotgun)
   Certainty: Certain
   Notes:     Painless if worked, otherwise painful & brain damage.
      Danger of discovery of weapon or ammunition. Not at all common in UK,
      more common in USA where guns available. Brain damage & other effects if
      you survive. Death either instantaneous, or prolonged. Lots of will power
      needed to fire gun ('hesitation marks' are bullets/pellets embedded in
      the wall, when you jerk the gun as you fire). Bullet can miss vital parts
      in skull, deflect off skull. If you have a choice, use a shotgun rather
      than a rifle of a pistol, since it is so much more effective. ("shotgun"
      entry later). Ammunition to use is: .458 Winchester Magnum, or soft-point
      slugs with .44 Magnum. Also you could use a sabot round, which is a
      plastic wedge with a smaller thing in it. These rounds are rather
      overkill, the phrase "elephant gun" has been used about the .458
      Winchester, but if you're going to go, do it with a bang. Note, people
      usually survive single .22 shots to the temples. The other problem with
      guns is that is is bloody messy. Your next of kin will really _enjoy_
      cleaning up after you, washing the coagulated blood & brains out of
      corners etc...

==6. ASPHYXIATION
   Time:      5 mins to unconciousness, 10+ mins to brain death
   Available: Anywhere there's a rope and something solid to tie it to
   Certainty: Certain, if yoou don't get "rescued"
   Notes:     Panic reaction is very likely (unless inert gasses used).
      One of the most effective and most used methods of suicide.
      Probable brain damage if you are "rescued".
      NOTE, this can only really be done in two ways: firstly,
      when you are unconsious (eg, sleeping pills), or secondly,
      by hanging. Combining with pure inert gasses is a very good
      suggestion. See "Nitrogen" in the poisons section

==7. AIR IN VEINS (basically just a myth)
   Time:      Couple of minutes claimed
   Available: Plenty of air about... Need a hypodermic & syringe
   Certainty: only 1 known case.. patient may already have been dead
   Notes:     The only case I know about, it killed with 40cc of air. Smaller
      amounts are harmless. The case was the death of Abbie Borroto,
      who died in 1950 from a 40cc injection in New Hampshire. She
      died in minutes. This was the 1949 Dr H Sander case. He was
      found not guilty to murder on the grounds that the patient may
      already have been dead when he gave the injection. (A doctor and
      a nurse could find no pulse earlier the same day).
      The following 2 quotes are from [1]:
      Prof. Y Kenis says: "... not a suitable method, nor a gentle
      death... extremely difficult to utilize as a method of suicide.
      .. possibly with very serious consequences, such as paralysis or
      permanent brain damage. .. this is only an impression, and I have
      no real scientific information on the subject."
      Dr Pieter V Admiraal .. describes the theoretical air bubble
      method of suicide as impossible, disagreeable and cruel. "To
      kill somebody with air you would have to inject at least 100 ->
      200 millilitres as quickly as possible in a vein as big as
      possible close to the heart. You would have to fill the whole
      heart with air at once. The heart would probably beat on for
      several minutes, perhaps 5 -> 15 minutes, and during the first
      minutes the person may be conscious."

==8. DECAPITATION
   Time:      Couple of seconds before conciousness fades
   Available: Happen to have a train line nearby? Or a guillotine perhaps?
   Certainty: Very certain, unless you pull away just before
   Notes:     See "jumping in front of trains". May be difficult to stop
      pulling your head out of the way - OD on sleeping tablets
      first

==9. DISEMBOWELMENT (aka seppuku/hara kiri)
   Time:      Minutes
   Available: Got a nice razor-sharp sword?
   Certainty: Fairly certain, assuming that you managed to gut yourself
              properly before passing out with the agony
   Notes:     Painful, even the macho Samurai used a 'second' to decapitate them
      at the appropriate point, so don't expect to do much more than
      give yourself peritonitis. Trendy for insane martial arts
      fanatics and gay Japanese poets called Mishima.

==10. DROWNING
   Time:      Minutes (5 mins to die of drowning, 20 to die of hypothermia)
   Available: Anywhere there's deep, (cold) water in a remote spot
   Certainty: Good, just make sure you sink & can't swim
   Notes:     Put stones in your pockets, tie your legs & hands together,
      and hop into the lake.. bit of a shock to the fisherman who
      finds your rotting corpse stuck in his brand new net. Also see
      entry for "hypothermia/freezing".  However, remember that you can be
      revived from cold water drowning after several hours, because the cold
      slows down terminal brain damage. Warmer water doesn't have the advantage
      of hypothermia, but is more effective in making sure you *stay* dead.

==11. ELECTROCUTION
   Time:      Seconds / minutes
   Available: Anywhere with high-tension, high-current lines & a good earth
   Certainty: Somewhat dependant on luck & how much power goes through you
   Notes:     Don't bother with 110 or 240 volt mains, its just not enough.
      Some people do get killed with household electricity, but only
      after several minutes. Use high tension lines, stand in bare
      feet on waterlogged ground (better still, but a piece of THICK
      copper cable into the nearest river). Works best if current
      path travels through your head, or through the heart. Just
      burns you badly otherwise.
      NOTE: people have survived massive high-voltage, high-current
      shocks with nothing but 3rd degree burns to show for it.
      Sometimes paralysis, limbs amputated etc.

==12. EXPLOSIVES
   Time:      10 milliseconds, or similar (!)
   Available: Difficult to get hold of detonator & good explosives
   Certainty: Certain if detonator works properly
   Notes:     DON'T USE GUNPOWDER or other 'slow' explosives (eg,
      homemade explosives). Use dynamite or 'Plastique', strap
      it to your forehead with the detonator, and BOOM! The main
      problem is with getting hold of high explosives (I know the
      recipe for Nitro-Glycerine, but home manufacture is extremely
      risky, and the product is unstable). If you can get a grenade,
      use it, it's probably the best way of doing this one.

==13. FREEZING TO DEATH (hypothermia)
   Time:      several hours (15 minutes in very cold water)
   Available: Got a large chest freezer? Is the outside temp < -10 degrees?
   Certainty: good if you don't get found
   Notes:     Soak your cloths in water, get into freezer / outside
      somewhere where you won't be found. Helps to get pissed
      first - drink yourself silly. If you are near a very
      cold supply of water (eg, the North Sea, or similar) which is
      close to zero degrees, this is particularly good, since the
      average lifespan of someone in the water is 15 minutes.
      [1] says: ".. have quietly ascended their favorite mountain late
      in the day .. above the freezing line.. wearing light clothing,
      they sat down in a secluded spot to await the end. Some have said
      that they intended to take a tranquilizer to hasten the sleep of
      death. From what we know of hypothermia, they would pass out as
      the cold reached a certain level and they would die within a few
      hours. Of course in a very cold climate there is no need to climb
      a mountain." [eg, UK in midwinter :-). There was a death in the
      middle of the city park here just this last winter ('90) where a
      lady stripped after the park closed for the night.]  A problem with
      this method is that because it slows the metabolism, and prevents
      damage to the brain, people can be revived several hours after 'death'
      occasionally.

==14. JUMPING IN FRONT OF TRAINS
   Time:      Seconds (or hours if unlucky)
   Available: Anywhere near a HIGH-SPEED railway line
   Certainty: Depends on your timing & speed of train. Go for decapitation
   Notes:     Probably better to put your neck on the line, since a glancing
      blow would probably break your spine (& cripple you). High
      speed trains need a kilometer to stop, so find a blind corner.

==15. SELF-IMMOLATION
   Time:      Seconds to days
   Available: Anywhere you can get petrol & a match
   Certainty: good as long as you are far away from medical help
   Notes:     bloody painful - one of the most agonising ways to die.
      If you do survive, you will be disfigured for the rest
      of your life.
      Try mixing the petrol with an explosive like TNT or NG,
      this will make it burn MUCH quicker, even if the explosive
      is very dilute.

==16. STARVING TO DEATH
   Time:      40 days give or take. Depends on health.
   Available: Anywhere where you can't be force-fed
   Certainty: Good as long as no medical help & will power holds up
   Notes:     Supposed to be easier after the first couple of days, since
      your appetite goes. In a UK prison, you can't be force-fed
      unless you give permission first, or are diagnosed insane,
      but I don't know whether this is the same in other countries.
      Beware - relatives might give permission on your behalf if you
      are unconsious. (living will / durable power of attorney helps).
      It may help if you use an appetite suppressant. Amphetamines,
      and some drugs (MDMA, AKA XTC, AKA ecstasy, AKA
      metheylenedimethoxymethamphetamine is one such). The problem with
      these is that they are frequently illegal. I've also heard of
      something called Aminorex (4-methylaminorex) which was briefly
      prescribed as an appetite suppressant, but taken off the market
      since it had fatal side effects... which is hardly a problem!!
      [1] says:
      ".. after approximately 20 % of body weight loss, illness will
      begin to set in, notably severe indigestion, muscle weakness, and
      _worst of all_ mental incapacity. ... about 40 days before life
      is seriously theatened.    ...."
      "In some cases self-starvation can be very painful. ... morphene
      had to be administered to kill the pain of fatal dehydration. .."

==17. DRIVING INTO BRIDGE SUPPORT AT 100 MPH
   Time:      Hopefully instantanious
   Available: Fast car, motorway, unprotected bridge....
   Certainty: So-so, put a couple of cans of petrol on the passenger seat to
              make it certain, & USE YOUR SEATBELT
   Notes:     Bridges are usually protected in the UK, don't know about USA.
      Avoid being thrown out of the car by using the seatbelt, and
      put petrol (in cans or just splashed about) near to the driver's
      seat just to make certain. Can be made to look accidental.

==18. SHOTGUN
   Time:      Instantanious if you are lucky
   Available: Difficult in UK, easier in USA (due to gun laws)
   Certainty: Fairly certain
   Notes:     12-gauge shotgun with 3 inch Magnum shells with #2 to #000
      buckshot. See "Bullet" for other points. This is the recommended
      way to die by firearm. Apparently the shells suggested here
      are "extreme overkill", but thats the point really... problem
      here is that its amazingly messy - who is going to pick the
      festering lumps of gore out of the carpet?  Another problem is that it
      is possible to miss your brain entirely, and just blow off your face
      instead.

==19. ENLIST (silly)
   Time:      Jan 15 '91 or other conflict
   Available: Just pop down to the local army office & sign on as a squaddie
   Certainty: Be a "hero". Life expectancy in a battle is 20 minutes
   Notes:     I don't think this is an entirely serious suggestion,
      particularly since only 10% ever see the front line, and only
      a few of those ever see combat.

==20. PENCILS UP YOUR NOSE, BANG DOWN ONTO TABLE (urban legend?)
   Time:      Seconds or never
   Available: All you need is a couple of sharp pencils and a table
   Certainty: Very uncertain
   Notes:     This is a myth, I think, since the pencils would go into your
      frontal lobes, which are basically optional. This is the
      legendary "exam suicide". Fine if you want a DIY frontal-
      lobotomy rather than death!

==21. GETTING SOMEONE TO MURDER YOU
   Time:      Depends on method used
   Available: Know any murderous psychopaths? No, not the tax people...
   Certainty: Depends on method used, & dedication of murderer
   Notes:     Forget it. Unless you contract someone to do it, the chances
      are that you are going to wake up in hospital without your
      wallet. If you do contract someone, how are you going to pay
      them? Can't take them to court for running off with your
      money and not doing the job.

==22. MAKE YOURSELF INTO AN H-BOMB (another silly one)
   Time:      Speed of light over 1/2 metre (couple of nanoseconds)
   Available: Nuke (fission OR fusion), 10 litres of heavy water
   Certainty: 100%
   Notes:     Drink the heavy water for several days, strap yourself to
      the nuke, and press the button. If you retained a couple of
      litres of the heavy water, the additional yield should be
      6 megajoules (give or take a few orders of magnitude). Note
      that heavy water is a poison, so you might not survive that
      long anyway.

==23. MICROMACHINES/NANOCOMPUTERS (science fiction)
   Time:      years or a fraction of a second - depends how you look at it
   Available: in 50 -> 1000 years time?
   Certainty: Good assuming that the technology is developed
   Notes:     Basically, this involves a 'replicator' panel. You program it
      to replicate yourself, simplifying very slightly, with the
      exception of the urge to use this technique. After a while, you
      turn into a mindless zombie, trudging around from the exit of
      the machine to the entrance, for eternity. Strange philosophical
      implications.

==24. SCUBA-DIVING (various fatal 'accidents')
   Time:      see notes -most are minutes/hours
   Available: scuba diving gear, nobody around
   Certainty: see notes
   Notes:     The first method is to rise 30 metres or so without releasing
      your breath. Assuming that you can do it, it should cause your
      lungs to burst. The second is the bends - stay under long enough
      for the nitrogen to dissolve (30 metres for 30 minutes). go up
      rapidly without decompression time. This is unreliable, and
      may cause brain / joint damage. The third way is Carbon Monoxide
      poisoning - fill your tank with it, and stay away from other
      divers. You will fall asleep fairly quickly. See CO in poisons
      section. The final way is oxygen narcosis - however, this means
      that you have to go very deep with an oxygen-rich mix, and
      there are problems associated with that. The advantage of these
      methods is that insurance companies / relatives will assume that
      it was an accident ('misadventure'), with the possible exception
      of the CO poisoning.
      The source of this follows: (from the net)
      "Rising 30m without exhaling will usually result in an over
      pressured lung, possible subcuteaneous emphazema, collapsed
      lung, death usually from drowning in your own blood. Rather
      painful and usually curable if you are rescued, but fair chance
      of dying if you aren't.
      Building up a high residual nitrogen time (say 30m for 30 min)
      then coming up without decompressing will get you bent fairly
      nicely. You don't feel much, but your joints tend to start
      stiffening up after half an hour. Death is very uncertain,
      coming from a stroke. Brain damage, joint damage etc are most
      likely. Pobably can be recued but some damage certain.
      Oxygen poisoning, going down 50+m until the partial pressure of
      the oxygen reaches a toxic level. Difficult to accomplish, very
      painful to get down that deep, cold pressure etc, possibility
      of nitrogen narcosis and forgetting what you are doing. Probably
      get bent, good chance of rescue.
      CO poisoning, mix a healthy batch of carbon monoxide in your
      tank as you dive, you tend to go to sleep under water, when
      combined with the above methods you have a pretty good winner,
      don't forget to forget your BCD."


==25. SUCKING YOUR BRAINS OUT
   Time:      Minutes
   Available: You'd need a Puma (TM) robot, & some other bits
   Certainty: certain, given proper programming
   Notes:     You would need an industrial robot to do this properly. Give
      it a saw attachment, a sucking tube attachment, and program
      it. Make a head restraint. When you are fixed securely into
      the restraint, start the robot's program. It will drill a hole
      in your head, and stick the tube into the hole. Program it to
      wiggle the tube back and forth so that it doesn't miss anything.
      This might work better if you put a stream of water into the
      hole as well, so that the sucking attachment doesn't just suck
      air all the time. Debugging the program could be amusing.

==26. MICROWAVES
   Time:      ?
   Available: Source of strong microwave emissions
   Certainty: ?
   Notes:     Cooking yourself. Point is to raise your core body temperature
      to fatal levels.

==27. DEHYDRATION
   Time:      a week or so?
   Available: you need to be able to stop medical help.
   Certainty: certain if your will-power stands up to it.
   Notes:     Don't eat or drink. Remember that food contains a high
      proportion of water. Avoiding medical help can be difficult.
      See 'starving to death'.

==28. SKYDIVING 'ACCIDENT'
   Time:      pretty damn quick.
   Available: need to join a skydiving club.
   Certainty: certain.
   Notes:     Join a skydiving club, continue to practise it for a while to
      clear off all suspicions and then once pack your parachute in
      a real mess (preferably knotted up, but not too clearly) and
      then jump. The para will not open and you will reach a terminal
      velocity of 220 km/h (160 mph/120 kn). Death is instant in the
      impact with the Planet Earth.
      This has the advantages of being 'accidental', and your family/
      friends do not have the additional pain and guilt associated
      with suicides.

==29. DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS; MODERN VERSION
   Time:      variable
   Available: a heck of a lot of razor-wire.. maybe a high-voltage supply
   Certainty: not very good
   Notes:     This is a modern variant of the Arabic 'Death of a thousand
      cuts'. Basically, jump onto a stack of unravelled razor wire,
      and roll around till you die.. it may help to connect a high-
      voltage, low current power supply to the wire, so that you have
      spasms, which should keep you getting cut even when you are
      unconscious. Also, you should make sure that you can't roll off
      the wire.

==30. CRUSHING
   Time:      seconds to minutes, depends on car press
   Available: a car press.. any good junkyard
   Certainty: certain as long as you can't escape
   Notes:     This is an elegantly simple one.. get into a car, in a car
      press, and shortly afterwards be squashed to death as your
      body is converted into a red pulp. It may be tricky getting
      the press to trigger, but if you hide in the car someone
      may come along and activate it. There are other ways of
      getting crushed, this just happens to be the most effective
      I can think up on the spur of the moment. Getting yourself
      run over by a fully loaded articulated lorry is quite good.
      You should remember that people quite often survive the actual
      crushing; they die when the weight is taken OFF them.

==31. WORLD WAR THREE
   Time:      moments if you are near a militarilly significant site
   Available: happen to be one of the 'key-holders'? president maybe?
   Certainty: pretty certain
   Notes:     All you have to do is trigger world war three. Fire an ICBM
      or three at the Chinese and the Russians... This method has
      the advantage that you take everyone else with you! Trouble
      is, the number of people with the requisite access is minimal,
      and I sort of doubt that any readers of ASH can do this.

==32. HEATSTROKE
   Time:      4 hours or more
   Available: Very hot day; no disturbance from neighbours etc
   Certainty: depends on the weather
   Notes:     Basically, the point is to give yourself extreme heatstroke.
      You should pass out after a few hours. Use some aluminium foil
      to direct the sun's heat onto you, to speed up the process
      a bit. Try to reduce the chance of being interuppted, take off
      the phone etc. Obviously, start in the morning! Helps if the
      outside temperature is >100F.

==33. ACID BATH
   Time:      depends on acid
   Available: a lot of a very strong acid
   Certainty: fairly good
   Notes:     [from alt.suicide.holiday]
      "summer heat got you down? Try the new and improved neighbourhood
      acid bath. Most metal working plants and some auto-repair shops
      will have a nice soothing acid bath. This, of course, is for
      those of you who enjoy extreme pain and don't want to make a
      mess for others to clean up. If you don't leave a note chances
      are they will never know what happened, aside from the shop /
      plant being broken into."

==34. FAKE CAR BOMB
   Time:      milliseconds
   Available: explosive
   Certainty: fairly good if enough explosive
   Notes:     This is a modification of the basic use-explosives method. What
      you do, is make a homemade car bomb, and drive off happily after
      chatting with your neighbour about how well your life is going,
      apart from a few minor death-threats from an Iraqi death-squad..
      To confuse the authorities even more, have a note in your pocket
      listing the telephone numbers of all the eastern foreign
      embassies in your pocket, together with a little line of random
      "code numbers" next to each.., and a random but large amount of
      cash listed against each code number. :-) Oh yes, and a heavily
      annotated copy of Jane's Defence Weekly - Xhosa edition.

==35. JUMPING OFF BRIDGES (slice and dice with piano wire)
   Time:      9.87 ms-2; 4 to 10 meters; calculate it yourself!
   Available: Rope, pianowire and a high bridge.
   Certainty: Fairly certain
   Notes:     Never been tried. Can also be used with a fairly
      high building, but then the art-motive will
      disappear.
      Cut the rope and wire in various lengths. Each
      length must not be longer than the height of the
      bridge.
      Tie one end of the ropes and wires to the bridge
      Tie the other part of the ropes to different bodyparts
      like thigh, calves, torso etc.  Then tie the
      pianowires around your joints. (Don't forget your
      genitals..)
      When you jump various parts of you body are whipped
      away by the pianowire nooses, and your bits are held
      up by the ropes swaying in the breeze.
      If you to this right you should end up with just your
      torso hanging by it's neck above the sea, highway,
      ground.
      Do it with friends, and call it art.

==36. BEING EATEN ALIVE
   Time:      depends, but probably a couple of minutes
   Available: zoo, or live in Africa/wherever
   Certainty: not brilliant.. what if they're not hungry and don't finish?
   Notes:     basically, find one or more hungry carnivores... tigers
      are nice. Also, sharks, lions, any of the big cats..

==37. BEING BURNED UP IN UNPROTECTED RE-ENTRY
   Time:      probably a few minutes
   Available: if you happen to be able to get into orbit
   Certainty: about as certain as you can get!
   Notes:     Just go for a spacewalk in a low earth orbit, and decelerate
      enough to enter the atmosphere. You'll get a great view...


==38. ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME (AIDS)
   Time:      Incubation period 1 to 10 years, death within 2 years of diagnosis
              of AIDS, Can have HIV for years/decades
   Dosage:    Just one intimate contact with an Infected person of any gender
   Available: Available to all for free
   Certainty: 99.9% certainty AFTER infected
   Notes:     [2]:
      This is not painfree. This method may cost you alot of money if
      you allow others to get you medical attention. It may a little difficult
      to get infected as people who know they have it may not comply with
      your request. Could be great fun attempting to get infected depending
      upon your attitude (remember -any gender - you don't have to limit
      yourself - you're going to die, you might as well try it ;). Should be
      quite devasting to your family & close friends. You also get the
      satisfaction of leaving behind a virtual unrecognizable-as-you body !
      This also gives you the prime opportunity to point your finger at your
      dentist and say he did it for all the times you have suffered in their
      chair.  Happy dying !



==New methods not added to list yet; raw text

Nitros Oxide:
(so far)
Industrial -- No good. They add chemicals to keep people from abusing it.
Dentist-al -- Great. Perfect. BUT, kinda tricky to get a hold of.
Automotive -- A clever thought. You could definately manage to mailorder
                 this from an add in hot-nitros-cars magazies.

Administration:
An enclose space -- Sounds perfect. Comfortable. A "big box" is my choice.
  SkubaEquipment -- If you dive, you're all set. Take your tank down to
                      PerformanceAutomotive for a nitros fill.
 PlasticFaceMask -- Steal one from your grandmother.
                    Buy one from a medical supply store.
                    Get lucky and be in an "impending plane crash" situation.
                    Grab one with the Nitros from the Dentist's Office.
       Gas-Mask! -- Go shopping at you local army supply store!
        Homemade -- Add some aquarium tubing from the Nitros canister to
                      a plastic bad over your head.
                    Aquarium tubing from the canister that goes into your
                      nose "post surgery" style. Don't forget to tape your
                      mouth closed!
                    Duct tape your face to the canister?




Method : Death by Painting Your Body
Dosage : Less than 1 can of paint depending on your body type
Time   : ? Probably less than 8 hours
Availability : Very available ! You have a choice of greasepaint or House paint
               You need a type of paint that will not allow your pores to
               breath in order to be successful at this. You also have a
               smashing selection of colors you can choose to die in ! Nile
               Green ? Blood Red ? Basic Black ? Or any combo you desire..
               If you couldn't decide before what to wear to die in, this
               method will cause you considerable angst.
Certainty : This is a sure method, provided you have a paint that will block
            your pores from breathing. Don't forget the bottom of your
            feet. You must paint every last bit of available skin. If your
            pores can breathe, you won't die.
Notes : I read this in some theater journal 5 or so years ago, saying when you
        you do full body makeup, you must insure that parts of the body are
        left Naked to breathe or the actor will die. Usually for full body
        makeup, they leave the bottoms of feet, and some patterns on the body,
        like lines so the actor doesn't suffocate.


Anyway since we're all here letme suggest nerve toxins as a viable
suicide method. In particular Antimycin A. There are NO antidotes to
this...though getting hold of it could be quite difficult. Death is
relatively swift and painless. Not as aesthetically pleasing as a Bungee
Newsgroups: alt.suicide.holiday