2132 lines
91 KiB
Plaintext
2132 lines
91 KiB
Plaintext
Preamble
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NOTES
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This list is compiled from a large number of sources, the main one being
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this newsgroup (ASH). I have not named anyone in any of the entries to
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ensure their privacy.
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Calle:
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I, on the other hand, will name sources if (and only if) the sources
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give me permission.
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There may be inaccuracies in many of the entries... double check if you
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can. Go to the library and read up on your favorite method - check dosages
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in the manufacturer's data sheets. If you do notice any inaccuracies,
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please write to the net ASAP.
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LEGAL
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This file is provided for the purposes of amusement, and the actual use of
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any of these methods is not recommended without first considering other
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possibilities, such as dying of old age. Please do not pass it onto people
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whom you know to be actively suicidal.. you may find yourself in jail for
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considerable periods. I have a small amount of info on British law
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regarding assisting suicides; feel free to ask me for a copy. Basically,
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distribution to a number of unknown people is fine, but giving it to
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someone whom you know is actively considering suicide can get you into jail
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for up to 14 years.
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I should also point out that this file is distributed world-wide, and there
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will be significant differences in the legal aspects in other countries.
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Calle:
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For example, in Sweden the distribution of this file is completely
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legal, according to a lawyer I know. As long as you don't physically
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help someone to commit suicide, you're safe. According to the lawyer
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mentioned above, Dr. Kevorkian's suicide machine would probably be
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legal in Sweden.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
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1. "Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted
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Suicide for the Dying" Derek Humphry (publisher: Hemlock)
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2. alt.suicide.holiday newsgroup on "usenet"
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3. alt.med newsgroup on "usenet"
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4. "Poisonous Plants and Fungi: an Illustrated Guide" (Ministry of
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Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods) M R Cooper, A W Johnson
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5. "Encyclopedia of Human Biology"
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* "Let Me Die Before I Wake" Derek Humphry
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* "Suicide, Mode d'Emploi" Claude Guillon, Yves Le Bonniec
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* "Zorg jij dak ik niet meer wakker word?" Klazien Sybrandy, Rob Bakker
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* "How To Die With Dignity" George B Mair, EXIT (Scottish)
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* "A Guide To Self-Deliverance" EXIT (Britain)
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* "Autodeliverance" Michel L Landa
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* "Justifiable Euthanasia" Pieter V Admiraal
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* "First You Cry" Betty Rollin
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* "Last Wish" Betty Rollin
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* "Death of a Man" Lael Wertenberger
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* "Jean's Way" Derek Humphry
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* "The Savage God: A Study of Suicide" A Alvarez
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* "Double Exit" Ann Wickett
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* "Voluntary Euthanasia: A Comprehensive Bibliography" G Johnson
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(Hemlock)
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* "The Woman Said Yes" Jessamyn West
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* "The Bell Jar" Sylvia Plath
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* "Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products" Williams & Wilkins
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Company
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* "Suicide: The Gamble with Death" Gene & David Lester
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* "Crisis Intervention in the Community" Richard K McGee
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* "Wanting to Die" Anne Sexton
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* "Bitter Fame" (bio about) Sylvia Plath (author is) Anne Stevenson
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* "Letters Home" (bio about) Sylvia Plath (author is) Aurelia S Plath
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* "Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones & his People" Dutton
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* "Essays in Self-Destruction" (ed) Edwin S Shneidman
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* "Suicide: A Study in Sociology" Emile Durkheim
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* "Suicide and Attempted Suicide" Erwin Stengel
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* "Endangered Hope: Experiences in Psychiatric Aftercare Facilities"
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David K Reynolds, Norman L Farberow
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* "Death Wishes? The Understanding & Managment of Deliberate Self Harm"
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H G Morgan
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* "The Final Months: a Study of the Lives of 134 Persons who Committed
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Suicide" Eli Robins
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* "Suicide: Inside and Out" David K Reynolds, Normal L Farberow
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* "Attempted Suicide: A Practical Guide to its Nature and Management"
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Keith Hawton, Jose Catalan
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* "The Negative Scream: A Story of Young People Who Took an Overdose"
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Sally O'Brien
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* "Caring for the Suicidal" John Eldrid
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* "The Samaritans: to help those tempted to suicide or despair" Chad
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Varah
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* "Mishima: A Biography" John Nathan
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* "Self-Mutilation: Theory, Research, and Treatment" Barent W Walsh,
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Paul M Rosen
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* "Defeating Depression: a Guide for Depressed People and Their Familes"
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C A H Watts
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* "Depression: The Way Out of Your Prison" Dorothy Rowe
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* "The Oxford Book of Death" D J Enright
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This booklist is an extended list from [1]. I strongly recommend [1], try
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getting it mail order from the address below.
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Calle:
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Not used in the creation of this file, but recommended on the
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newsgroup was: "The Enigma Of Suicide" by George Howe Colt
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GROUPS
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The National Hemlock Society [American, pro-euthanasia, many books,
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PO Box 11830 D Humphry is founder]
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Eugene, OR 97440-3900
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USA
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(503) 342-5748
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Samaritans [British, suicide hotlines and
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prevention, Chad Varah is founder.
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non-interventionist approach]
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Befrienders International [International, suicide prevention,
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umbrella organisation]
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The Voluntary Euthanasia Society [British, pro-euthanasia]
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(Formerly British EXIT)
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Association pour le Droit de Mourir dans la Dignite
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[French, pro-euthanasia]
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Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Humanes Sterben
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[German, pro-euthanasia]
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Club of Life [American, anti-euthanasia]
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INDEX
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to get index, type 'grep == methods >methods_index' in unix.
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I will try to add an index in the next days --erik
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Methods:
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POISON
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[1] makes most of these points:
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* Most drugs cause vomiting. To help stop this, take one or two anti-
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histamine tablets (travel sickness, allergy, hayfever tablets etc)
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about0 an hour before, on a fairly empty stomach.
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* If the drugs are in tablet form, take the first 20% as they are, and
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the rest crushed and dissolved / mixed in with strong alcohol / food.
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This helps the drugs to hit at the same time.
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* Alcohol helps dissolve the drugs. Don't drink any beforehand, but wash
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the tablets down with vodka or similar, and then drink afterwards
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while you're still conscious.
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* Use a large airtight plastic bag over your head, + something around
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your neck to hold it on. This transforms a 90% certainty method into a
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99%...
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* Friday night is a good time if you life alone - nobody will miss you
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until Monday if you work. Bolt all the doors you can. Say you'll be
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out over the weekend visiting someone, so people don't expect a reply
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to telephone.
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* Some painkillers etc have less effect if you use them normally
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(tolerance).
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* In general, you need to stay away from medical help until you actually
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die, but there are exceptions to this (that have been pointed out in
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the text).
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Common drugs:
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* Cyanide (HCN, KCN)
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Dosage:
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50 mg Hydrogen Cyanide gas, 200-300 mg Cyanide salts
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Time:
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seconds for HC, minutes Cs (empty stomach) hours (full s)
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Available:
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very difficult to get hold of
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Certainty:
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very certain
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Notes:
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It helps to have an empty stomach (since the salts react with the
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stomach acids to form H.C.). A full stomach can delay death for
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up to four hours with the salts. Antidotes to cyanide poisoning
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exist, but they have serious side effects. What you can do, is
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instead of taking the salts directly, drop 500mg or so into a
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strong acid, and inhale the fumes. This will be pure Hydrogen
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Cyanide, and you should die in 10 to 20 seconds.
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[3]: "Hydrocyanic acid is one of the most poisonous substances
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known; the inhalation of its fumes in high concentration will
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cause almost immediate death. Hydrogen cyanide acts by preventing
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the normal process of tissue oxidation and paralyzing the
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respiratory center in the brain. Most of the accidental cases are
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due to inhaling the fumes during a fumigating process. In the
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pure state it kills with great rapidity. Crystalline cyanides,
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such as potassium or sodium cyanide are equally poisonous, since
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they interact with the hydrochloric acid in the stomach to
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liberate hydrocyanic acid. This poison has been used for both
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homicide and suicide; in recent history, a number of European
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political figures carried vials of cyanide salt for emergency
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self-destruction and some used them. Death resulted from amounts
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of only a fraction of a gram. A concentration of 1 part in 500 of
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hydrogen cyanide gas is fatal. Allowable working concentration in
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most of the United States is 20 ppm. Two and one-half grains of
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liquid acid has killed. The acid acts fatally in about 15
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minutes. The cyanide salts kill in several hours. The average
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dose of solution is 0.1 cc.
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[1, DGHS talking about KCN]:
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on an empty stomach, take a small glass of cold tap water. (Not
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mineral water nor any sort of juice or soda water because of it's
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acidity). Stir 1 -> 1.5 grammes of KCN into the water. More than
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that causes irritation to the throat. Wait 5 minutes to dissolve.
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It should be drunk within several hours. Consciousness will be
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lost in about a minute. Death will follow 15 -> 45 minutes later.
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* Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid)
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Dosage:
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20-30+ grammes (too many cause vomitting)
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Time:
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hours to days, variable
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Available:
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easy to get hold of (get soluble ones, & dissolve them)
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Certainty:
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unreliable
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Notes:
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Not recommended, fatal dose varies wildly, could cause liver &
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kidney damage instead of death. OD causes strange noises in your
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ears (like a video arcade) & projectile vomiting after about 10
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hours. Medical help generally effective, so stay out of hospital
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for a couple of days. May cause bleeding in your stomach/upper
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intestines. Take with sodium bicarbinate (eg, bicarb. of soda),
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which speeds up the absorption (sp?) significantly. Take 1 or 2
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antihistamine tablets.
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* Paracetamol (aka acetaminopren / tylenol)
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Dosage:
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15+ grammes, 20+ is better
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Time:
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10 hours fatal damage, but 2 weeks to actually die
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Available:
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easy to get hold of
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Certainty:
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fairly reliable
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Notes:
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Once 10-12 hours is up, you've had it, but you still live for a
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week or two after that. Probably better to wait 15 hours just to
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make sure. Horrible side effects during this time (some of which
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are: acute toxic hepatitis, renal failure, cerebral oedema,
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intra-abdominal bleeding, aspiration pneumonia, haemophilia). Too
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small dose causes severe liver damage. Accidental deaths are very
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common. There are few if any side effects before the damage
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becomes fatal; occasionally vomitting and nausea.
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* Sleeping tablets (see specific notes for each kind)
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See later entries for amobarbital, butabarbital, diazepam, flurazepam,
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glutethimide, chloral hydrate, hydromorphone, meprobamate,
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methyprylon, meperidine (pethidine), methadone, morphine,
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orphenadrine, phenobarbital [also check trade names in same entries].
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* Alcohol (spirits preferably, your choice)
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Dosage:
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1/2 litre vodka?, similar. Varies from person to person.
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Time:
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about 8 hours
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Available:
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good
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Certainty:
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unreliable
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Notes:
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will cause liver and kidney damage if 'rescued' before death.
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Drink it all at the same time, quickly as possible. Dosage is
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questionable, I don't have any figures. Taking the spirits as an
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enema is supposed to be a very quick way of absorbing alcohol,
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but a less unpleasant way is to inject it. The dosage it takes to
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kill you depends on whether you drink normally, the state of your
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liver, whether you pass out on your back or not.
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[3]: "The fatal dose of pure alcohol in an average adult is
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300-400 mL (750-1000 mL of 40% alcohol) if consumed in less than
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one hour. Apart from the effects of overdosage, death after
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alcohol consumption can occur as a result of choking on vomit
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while unconscious. ..... Consequences such as liver damage occur
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after chronic consumption." Alcohol helps other drugs to
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dissolve. Don't drink it in advance, wash down tablets with it, &
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follow by drinking another few glasses of spirits.
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* Water
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Dosage:
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14 litres mentioned
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Time:
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12 hours or so?
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Available:
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always available
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Certainty:
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unknown
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Notes:
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works by washing out the salts in your body, until the cells fail
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(osmotic balance buggered up). You need to keep drinking
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continually until you collapse. Unusual method. Someone suggested
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it would also cause cramps. The following is something from [2]:
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"About a year ago a local newspaper carried a story about a woman
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who had drunk herself to death. Apparently she had ingested
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something mildly poisonous, and when she called her doctor asking
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him what to do, he told her to drink lots of water and see him in
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the morning. She got to it and managed to drink no less than 14
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litres of water before the osmotic balance in her body was so
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upset it could no longer function and she died (don't know how
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quickly)".
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Calle: The above anecdote originally came from me, and the death
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described occured in Växjö, Sweden. Unfortunately I no longer
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remember which newspaper I saw it in. Recently, I was told about
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a similar case in San Antonio. It supposedly happened a couple of
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years ago and was reported in the local San Antonio Express/News.
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* Bleach and other corrosives (lye, drain cleaning fluids)
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Dosage:
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A bottle (litre or half litre)
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Time:
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Hours/days
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Available:
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Easily available
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Certainty:
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Uncertain
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Notes:
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Bloody painful - depends on your stomach getting corroded, the
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stomach acids escaping, and doing their dirty work in your vital
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organs.
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[1] says: "I have heard of people throwing themselves through
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plate glass windows in their death agonies after drinking lye."
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* Insulin (injected)
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Dosage:
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No idea
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Time:
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death in hours to days
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Available:
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Difficult to get hold of unless you're a diabetic or a vet
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Certainty:
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reasonable
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Notes:
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Supposed to be quite pleasant (eg insulin shock treatments used
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for some psychiatric condition).
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* Petrol (in lungs/injected)
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Dosage:
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"A Thimble-full" -20 ml?
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Time:
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Seconds/minutes
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Available:
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Common
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Certainty:
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I'm not sure of the dosage, but fairly certain if correct
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Notes:
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Can also use LPG (propane/butane) on skin surface (since these
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are light enough to go through the skin). Stick your hand in a
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bucket of propane and see how many seconds you last...
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* Oil of Wintergreen/Methyl Salicylate (in lungs/injected)
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Dosage:
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Probably similar to petrol (20 ml)
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Time:
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Don't know
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Available:
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Not available in concentration
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Certainty:
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Don't know
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Notes:
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Don't have enough information on this one to be able to say
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anything about it. If it is just taken normally, it is the same
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as aspirin.
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* Malathion (insecticide) (entry revised by Calle)
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Dosage:
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A few bottles, at least
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Time:
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2 to 3 hours
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Available:
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From a large garden centre or DIY shop
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Certainty:
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not so good
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Notes:
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A correspondent mentions that the LD50 of this stuff is 1 g/kg in
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rats, and adds that there is not nearly that much in a bottle. He
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also mentions that it is treatable. Instead of this, he
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recommends parathion, if you really want to use an insecticide.
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* Phosphine gas from aluminium phosphide pesticide (ALP)
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Dosage:
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Single 3 gramme tablet (".. is enough to kill 10 people")
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Time:
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About 2 hours
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Available:
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Difficult. Used in India, sold on black market.
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Certainty:
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Without medical help, and using fresh pill, very good
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Notes:
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This is a common way of committing suicide in Indian villages.
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There is no specific antidote to this. The pills are 3 grammes of
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ALP, which produces lethal phosphine gas when it comes in contact
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with hydrochloric acid or water in the stomach. After severe
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vomiting, the victim loses consciousness, the blood vessels
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rupture, and body cavities fill with blood. While the pill is
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exceedingly lethal, some escape death because the rate of the
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gas' release declines with the pill's age and use, and exposure
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to moisture. Trouble with this one is the availability, and it
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also looks like a rather unpleasant.
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* Rat poison (Warfarin)
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Dosage:
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not known
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Time:
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Hours to terminal damage, days to actual death
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Available:
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Available
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Certainty:
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Certain given suffient dosage. Most probably treatable.
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Notes:
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This is one of the truly unpleasant poisons, along with
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Paracetamol/Acetylminopren. I think it causes cerebral haemorage
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(rat poison works by giving the unfortunate rat haemophillia).
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Doctors can't do anything about it, they just leave you to die in
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agony on an intensive care ward.
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Calle: Since human haemophiliacs usually live quite ordinary
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lives, the above sounds rather improbable.
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* Caffeine
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Dosage:
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20 grammes (someone said 8 -> 10 grammes)
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Time:
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not known
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Available:
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Caffeine tablets available in Chemist shops
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Certainty:
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don't know
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Notes:
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I don't know very much about this. There isn't all that much
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caffeine in coffee, maybe 200 mg.
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* Potassium Chloride (injected in solution) / KCl
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Dosage:
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not known (try 20cc injection of strong solution)
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Time:
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Seconds to minutes
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Available:
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Widely available
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Certainty:
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Certain given correct dosage
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Notes:
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Causes heart attack (which is painful). May be difficult for
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coroner to realise it was suicide rather than a natural heart
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attack. An excess of K+ in the blood interferes with nerve
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signals, and stops muscles and nerves from working. So when it
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reaches your heart, the heart stops.
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* Nitrogen gas (or other inert gas)
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Dosage:
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Several litres uncompressed is minimum
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Time:
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Minutes
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Available:
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Try plumber, or welding supplies company
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Certainty:
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Certain
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Notes:
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This is really a form of asphyxiation, (see later), but is
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particularly good since you don't experience the lack of oxygen
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(what people really experience is the EXCESS of carbon dioxide).
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* Nitrous oxide (N20? NO2?)
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Dosage:
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Unknown
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Time:
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Minutes
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Available:
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Dentists supply would be good
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Certainty:
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reasonable
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Notes:
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Asphyxiate yourself with laughing gas. Nice.
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* Carbon Monoxide (CO)
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Dosage:
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5% concentration or so?
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Time:
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Minutes to hours depending on concentration
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Available:
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You get it out of a car exhaust, you used to be able to use "town
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gas" (eg, stick your head in the cooker) but this is no longer
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available
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Certainty:
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Fairly certain, as long as you aren't "rescued"
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Notes:
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Causes brain damage.
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|
|
Calle: A correspondent from Denmark, where you still can use
|
|
"town gas" to kill yourself, says that even though it's possible
|
|
it's not a good idea. He tells of an incident where a family
|
|
committed suicide by turning on the gas and waiting. Apparently,
|
|
the heavier-than-air carbon monoxide leaked through the floor and
|
|
reached the people in the apartment below. Not nice.
|
|
|
|
The actual cause of death is asphyxiation, since the carbon
|
|
monoxide binds tighter to haemoglobine than oxygen does (the
|
|
oxygen gets crowded out, so to speak).
|
|
|
|
* 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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: A correspondent mentions that Jimsonweed will also do, and
|
|
that a specific antidote exists.
|
|
|
|
* 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 (Rewritten by Calle)
|
|
Dosage:
|
|
extract from 100g tabacco? 40-60 mg pure.
|
|
Time:
|
|
Several hours, coma may set in much earlier. Much quicker if
|
|
taken in large doses.
|
|
Available:
|
|
Easily available
|
|
Certainty:
|
|
Fairly certain, given a large enough dose.
|
|
Notes
|
|
This is what Mike wrote:
|
|
"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."
|
|
|
|
It is correct, as far as I have found out. It can be added that
|
|
the effects include violent convulsions and that the direct cause
|
|
of death is respiratory failure. Smokers should use larger doses
|
|
than non-smokers.
|
|
|
|
* 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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: I don't quite believe in what Mike is saying about
|
|
psychosis here. As far as I have been able to find out, LSD works
|
|
by catalyzing certain substances in the brain, and thus vast
|
|
overdoses have no more effect than merely large ones. Once all
|
|
the stuff in your brain is used up, there will be no more effect.
|
|
|
|
A correspondent points out a case reported by The Journal of
|
|
Clinical Toxicology where eight people snorted pure LSD Tartrate,
|
|
beliving that it was cocaine. The amounts ingested was estimated
|
|
to be from 1000 to 10000 times an ordinary dose. Half of them
|
|
lapsed into comas, but all of them came out of it without any
|
|
treatment. Some were given Valium for anxiety efterwards.
|
|
|
|
On the whole, it seems that LSD is about as safe as a drug can
|
|
be, despite much propaganda saying otherwise.
|
|
|
|
* 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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: A correspondent believes this entry to be erroneous, since
|
|
in the litterature he consulted rotenone was mentioned as being
|
|
used as an insecticide and not being all that toxic.
|
|
|
|
* 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 antihistamine 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)
|
|
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 antihistamine on an empty
|
|
stomach
|
|
|
|
* Codeine (combo. with Aspirin: Empirin compound no. I -> IV)
|
|
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 antihistamine on an empty
|
|
stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
|
|
longer be effective.
|
|
|
|
* Diazepam (valium, apozepam, aliseum, ducene)
|
|
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 antihistamine 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)
|
|
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 antihistamine 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)
|
|
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 antihistamine 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) 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 antihistamine 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)
|
|
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 antihistamine on an empty
|
|
stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
|
|
longer be effective.
|
|
|
|
* Meprobamate (miltown, equanil)
|
|
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 antihistamine 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)
|
|
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 antihistamine 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)
|
|
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 antihistamine on an empty
|
|
stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
|
|
longer be effective.
|
|
|
|
* Methadone (dolophine, adanon)
|
|
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 antihistamine on an empty
|
|
stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
|
|
longer be effective.
|
|
|
|
* Morphine (in Brompton's mixtures)
|
|
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 antihistamine on an empty
|
|
stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
|
|
longer be effective.
|
|
|
|
* Phenobarbital (luminal, gardenal, fenical)
|
|
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 antihistamine 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))
|
|
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 antihistamine on an empty
|
|
stomach. [Vesperax is Humphry's favorite]
|
|
|
|
* Propoxyphene (darvon, dolotard, abalgin, antalvic, depronal)
|
|
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 antihistamine 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)
|
|
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 antihistamine on an empty
|
|
stomach.
|
|
|
|
Methods: other than poisoning
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: I got this table of appropriate falling heights from
|
|
a.s.h. long-time regular MegaZone (megazone@wpi.wpi.edu), who got
|
|
it from a friend of his named Mark.
|
|
|
|
Hanging Drop Heights...
|
|
|
|
Culprits Weight Drop
|
|
14 stone (196 lbs) 8ft 0in
|
|
13.5 stone (189 lbs) 8ft 2in
|
|
13 stone (182 lbs) 8ft 4in
|
|
12.5 stone (175 lbs) 8ft 6in
|
|
12 stone (168 lbs) 8ft 8in
|
|
11.5 stone (161 lbs) 8ft 10in
|
|
11 stone (154 lbs) 9ft 0in
|
|
10.5 stone (147 lbs) 9ft 2in
|
|
10 stone (140 lbs) 9ft 4in
|
|
9.5 stone (133 lbs) 9ft 6in
|
|
9 stone (126 lbs) 9ft 8in
|
|
8.5 stone (119 lbs) 9ft 10in
|
|
8 stone (112 lbs) 10ft 0in
|
|
|
|
Source: Charles Duff, Handbook of Hanging (Boston: Hale,
|
|
Cushman & Flint 1929)
|
|
|
|
Notes: This is for person of average build with no unusual
|
|
physical problems. The Author (James "Hangman" Barry) noted that
|
|
when executing "persons who had attempted suicide by cutting
|
|
their throats...to prevent reoping the wounds I have reduced the
|
|
drop by nearly half."
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: A posting to A.S.H. suggests using the kind of equipment
|
|
they use when you give blood to a blood bank, i.e., a needle in a
|
|
blood vessel and a piece of tubing. It sounds like it would
|
|
remove several of the disadvantages of the ordinary
|
|
slitting-wrists method.
|
|
|
|
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 you 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
|
|
|
|
Calle: A news notice from California posted to
|
|
alt.suicide.holiday tells the story of a man who comitted suicide
|
|
nearly cut his own head off with a chainsaw. Sounds like a grisly
|
|
way to do it.
|
|
|
|
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, put 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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: Recipies for creating explosives can be found, together
|
|
with the appropriate warnings, in the rec.pyrotechnics FAQ.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: You could always get employed as a mercenary. That way
|
|
you'll at least see combat, improving your chances to die vastly.
|
|
Still, a silly method.
|
|
|
|
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!
|
|
|
|
Calle: This is an urban legend, see the alt.folklore.urban FAQ
|
|
for more details.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: If I remember my physics correctly, there will be no
|
|
reaction in your body no matter how much heavy water you have
|
|
ingested. Not that it matters if you're sitting on an exploding
|
|
hydrogen bomb!
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: If you postulate nanomachines, why not use the
|
|
deconstructor kind? Take your body apart into its component
|
|
molecules in less than a minute... A silly method, if you hadn't
|
|
guessed.
|
|
|
|
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 poisoning - 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 (silly)
|
|
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
|
|
Notes:
|
|
Cooking yourself. Point is to raise your core body temperature to
|
|
fatal levels.
|
|
|
|
Calle: Does anyone have any information on this? All that I know
|
|
is that standing in front of a Swedish coast surveillance radar
|
|
(which happens to use exactly the same wavelength as your average
|
|
microwave oven) is a Bad Thing.
|
|
|
|
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. Takes much time and money.
|
|
Certainty:
|
|
Fairly certain. People have fallen from extreme heights and
|
|
survived. The resulting injuries are not fun.
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: In addition to the above, you need to remove or disable
|
|
your reserve parachute (which is not easy, I'm told). There are
|
|
better "accidental" methods than this.
|
|
|
|
A correspondent who is a skydiver dislikes this entry, since if
|
|
people use it it will give skydiving an undeservedly bad
|
|
reputation.
|
|
|
|
29. DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS; MODERN VERSION (silly)
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Calle: Lots harder since the collapse of the Soviet Union...
|
|
Silly.
|
|
|
|
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 (silly)
|
|
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 !
|
|
|
|
Calle: May not be so certain any more. Ten years may well be long
|
|
enough for someone to develop a cure. Silly, IMHO.
|
|
|
|
39. AUTO-DECAPITATION BY CAR (added by Calle)
|
|
Time:
|
|
Real quick
|
|
Available:
|
|
You need access to a car and a rope
|
|
Certainty:
|
|
I wouldn't trust it
|
|
Notes:
|
|
Comes from alt.suicide.holiday. Basic idea is to tie one end of
|
|
the rope around your neck, tie the other end to a real solid
|
|
object, get into the car and accelerate away as fast as the car
|
|
can manage. When you reach the end of the rope, your head gets
|
|
torn off. Be sure to use enough rope and fasten your seat belt.
|
|
|
|
A posting to a.s.h. in July 1993 says that someone in Washinton
|
|
State, USA actually used this method to commit suicide, so it
|
|
can't be that bad. The posting said that 25 feet of rope were
|
|
used (about 7.5 meters), which does sound a bit short. Perhaps he
|
|
had a real awesome car.
|
|
|
|
40. DEATH BY PAINTING YOUR BODY (very silly, and wrong)
|
|
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 :
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|
I read this in some theater journal 5 or so years ago, saying
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|
when you you do full body makeup, you must insure that parts of
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|
the body are left naked to breathe or the actor will die. Usually
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|
for full body makeup, they leave the bottoms of feet, and some
|
|
patterns on the body, like lines so the actor doesn't suffocate.
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Calle: This is an *extremely* silly one. It was in the "not yet
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|
edited" portion of Mike's file, and I think it is quite straight
|
|
from an a.s.h. posting.
|
|
This method does not work. As you can check in most any book on
|
|
human anatomy, the skin does not breathe. The only places in your
|
|
body which absorbs oxygen are the lungs and the corneas, and the
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|
corneas only feed themselves.
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|
You might get ill or even die if you use poisonous paint, though.
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41. NITROUS OXIDE (N20, Laughing Gas)
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|
Dosage :
|
|
Several Liters uncompressed
|
|
Time :
|
|
unconscious in about 5 min, death 10 -> 15 min
|
|
Availability :
|
|
Dentists supply would be good, any other technical-gases
|
|
supplier, cream charges (drugstore or something like that)
|
|
Certainty :
|
|
reasonable
|
|
Notes :
|
|
combination with marijuana recommended absolutely painless
|
|
method! N2O is normally used as an analgesic, but may also be
|
|
"mis"used as a drug (to get "high") or to "off" yourself. It may
|
|
be purchased at a technical-gases supplier (if they ask for the
|
|
purpose: tell them you need it for car-tuning (laughing-gas
|
|
injection (no joke!))).
|
|
I asked for it at a German gas-supplier (Messer-Griesheim) and
|
|
they told me that the smallest gas-bottle is about 8kg N2O (which
|
|
is equal to 4m^3). It would cost about 156,- DM per 8 kg (about
|
|
15$ per 1kg, prices may differ). Recommended for more comfort:
|
|
ask them about a pressure reducer (better control of gas-flow).
|
|
|
|
For best results, take someting like a breathing-mask (anything
|
|
similar will do) to make sure to still inhale the gas after
|
|
becoming unconscious. You may start with a small N2O
|
|
concentration (simply lift the mask a little so you get fresh air
|
|
with the N2O) and increase it until you breathe pure N2O. By the
|
|
way: N2O tastes sweet (but no calories I suppose :)
|
|
|
|
When 20mg N2O are solved in your blood (after about 10 breaths),
|
|
the effect sets in. If you inhale the gas long enough, so that
|
|
about 60mg N2O are solved in the blood, you will fade without the
|
|
slightest pain from life to death.
|
|
|
|
60eam charges every time....! You may achieve this by filling the
|
|
contents of the cream charges into a balloon (a big one!) and
|
|
inhale and exhale into the balloon. The only problem is, that you
|
|
get difficulties holding the balloon properly to your mouth after
|
|
you inhaled some times!
|
|
Part of this information taken from:
|
|
"Suicide, Mode d'Emploi" Claude Guillon, Yves Le Bonniec
|
|
(pages 176/177 in the German edition)
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
|
|
|
|
The only thing I can remember that has been asked for multiple times,
|
|
besides the File itself, are the lyrics for "Suicide Is Painless" (the
|
|
theme from M*A*S*H). Here it is:
|
|
|
|
"Suicide is Painless"
|
|
Words by Mike Altman
|
|
Music by Johnny Mandel
|
|
|
|
Through early morning fog I see
|
|
Visions of the things to be
|
|
The pains that are withheld for me
|
|
I realize and I can see that
|
|
|
|
Chorus: Suicide is painless
|
|
It brings on many changes
|
|
And I can take or leave it if I please.
|
|
|
|
I try to find a way to make
|
|
All our little joys relate
|
|
Without that ever-present hate
|
|
But now I know that it's too late, and
|
|
|
|
(chorus)
|
|
|
|
The game of life is hard to play
|
|
I'm going to lose it anyway
|
|
The losing card I'll someday lay
|
|
And this is all I have to say, that
|
|
|
|
(chorus)
|
|
|
|
The only way to win is cheat
|
|
And lay it down before I'm beat
|
|
And to another give a seat
|
|
For that's the only painless feat, cause
|
|
|
|
(chorus)
|
|
|
|
The sword of time will pierce our skins
|
|
It doesn't hurt when it begins
|
|
But as it works its way on in
|
|
The pain grows stronger - watch it grin
|
|
|
|
(chorus)
|
|
|
|
A brave man once requested me
|
|
To answer questions that are key
|
|
Is it to be or not to be?
|
|
And I replied, "Oh why ask me?", cause
|
|
|
|
(chorus)
|
|
|
|
And you can do the same thing if you please.
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Notes by Calle
|
|
|
|
At the end of Mike's file there were an entry for Nitrous Oxide. I have
|
|
removed it, as there already is one. There were also a mail were someone
|
|
recommended military nerve toxins. They might not be as certain as the
|
|
originator thought, as current military thinking is that one griveously
|
|
wounded man is worth many dead ones in decreasing the enemy's fighting
|
|
capacity. That means that modern nerve gasses well might leave you
|
|
paralyzed for life, but still living. Anyway, if you can get military
|
|
stuff, why not use a rifle or a few kilos of explosive?
|
|
|
|
Mike's sig were also at the bottom of the File. It follows here, for
|
|
historic reasons:
|
|
|
|
Mail: 176 Hampstead Rd EMail: Michael.Marsden@newcastle.ac.uk
|
|
Benwell Direct SMTP Mail, Talk,
|
|
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 8TP and Finger: n03vk@turing.ncl.ac.uk
|
|
|
|
Unfortunately, the mail address doesn't work any more.
|
|
|
|
Well, that's all. Comments are very welcome.
|
|
|
|
--
|
|
Calle Dybedahl,Torpareg. 94, S-583 31 Linkoeping,SWEDEN | calle@lysator.liu.se
|
|
"I think quotes are very dangerous things." -KaTe Bush
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
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|
|
the one originally found on rtfm.mit.edu
|
|
This Document is posted in an unedited state: send all correction
|
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commentary to ash@xanthia.com
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