Should suicide pills be available to everyone?

[Mermaid]

The fucking fuck is with this guy?

Will his next thread be about how father-daughter incest is OK?

I change all of my answers to this.

[stromboli]

He is pushing our buttons.

[Solitary]

Should suicide pills be available to everyone?

Are you serious? NO!  Isn't it obvious why they shouldn't? Jump in your car, turn it on in the garage, and think about this. Why would that even be necessary? I don't believe everyone that wants to commit suicide is mentally ill, but some can be helped with their problems and should be. When it is a terminal illness to prevent unnecessary suffering I'm all for it though. I believe it is legal in the Netherlands. Solitary

[Hydra009]

Relevant:  http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/230/

[Eric1958]

Suicide is a subject that has long been of interest to me. Partly due to 40 years as a depresive and partly because in 1969 when I was 11 and she was 17, my sister decided to end her life.

Mental illness is a label that gets used an awful lot. So much so that I think it's meaning has been muddied. What really constitutes mental illness? To me to be healthy requires two attitudes. One is some degree of a sense of wellbeing. I don't mean that you walk around in ahappy daze, I just mean that at least as ooften as not, you are glad to be alive. Second, you have some reasonable hope of a decent future. Not a great future, but at least one that is better than the state you are in when you want to end it.

Another phrase that gets thrown around a lot when this subject comes up is "there is always help". This is a popular myth. Psychiatry has made great inroads over the last century, but it still has a very long way to go.

No, suicide pills should not be sold over the counter. They really shouldn't be that easy to get. Besides, I'm pretty sure most states already have laws on the books against committing suicide. And remember, this is America, where almost any adult can readily buy a gun. Guns are one of the reasons why men are much better at ending their lives than women. Men are much more likely to use a gun and they are effective. I think Sylvia Plath tried to off herself four or five times before she finally succeeded sticking her head in a gas oven. I guess she didn't want to leave a mess.

My sister was not so finicky, she used our father's rifle and made a "proper job of it". Besides at her funeral, the last I saw of her was seeing her long brown hair spilling out of the wheelbarrow my father had put her in. He had covered her with a blanket but the hair was still visible. I'd like to think that, had she lived, she may have gone on to live a reasonably happy life. It's hard to say though, we certainly don't get any guarantees. I can tell you that our father, who was almost 50 when his first child was born, lived with that grief for the rest of his life. He only ever had two children and I promised myself 40 years ago that I would not make that fine old man go through that pain again.

Anyway, that's where I'm coming from. I'm all in favor of suicide, but it does leave a lot of pain in it's wake.

[NeoLogic26]

And there is something else to be considered here:
For drugs to be legal for sale in this country (and a lot of others) they have to undergo research and development. The manufacturing company has to prove that all drugs taken internally are both safe and effective. So they have to be developed and tested. That is true for the solutions sold to euthanize animals. My job is to develop drugs and vaccines for use by medical professionals. I would not put my hands on a drug like that, and I would daresay that the vast majority of people working in my field would feel the same.
Killing people for profit. Who the fuck would entertain that kind of thing?

The point many people have made in this thread is that if this is implemented properly, this drug would relieve people's suffering which is something that medical professionals try to do everyday. And, personally, I find it hypocritical that we treat animals with more humanity than people when it comes to euthanasia. So for-profit animal euthanasia drugs are A-OK, but absolutely abhorrent for people? That reeks of self-righteousness.

[Mermaid]

And there is something else to be considered here:
For drugs to be legal for sale in this country (and a lot of others) they have to undergo research and development. The manufacturing company has to prove that all drugs taken internally are both safe and effective. So they have to be developed and tested. That is true for the solutions sold to euthanize animals. My job is to develop drugs and vaccines for use by medical professionals. I would not put my hands on a drug like that, and I would daresay that the vast majority of people working in my field would feel the same.
Killing people for profit. Who the fuck would entertain that kind of thing?

The point many people have made in this thread is that if this is implemented properly, this drug would relieve people's suffering which is something that medical professionals try to do everyday. And, personally, I find it hypocritical that we treat animals with more humanity than people when it comes to euthanasia. So for-profit animal euthanasia drugs are A-OK, but absolutely abhorrent for people? That reeks of self-righteousness.

I agree that it is sad that we are able to end the lives of our pets painlessly while we must die naturally. I think euthanasia is definitely an option I would want for myself if I were suffering.

[Colanth]

Forget about the black market.  Rat poison and aspirin come immediately to mind.  There are probably many others.  Iodine?  There are probably many OTC medications available.  Any biochemists here want to list the things sold in a supermarket that cause relatively painless and quick death?  (I'm not talking about drain cleaner - that's terrifically painful.)  Just because it's not labeled "Suicide Pill" doesn't mean that it's not.  (I believe one of the "sodium free" table salts is potassium chloride, which can be lethal in pretty small doses.)

[Solitary]

Suicide is a subject that has long been of interest to me. Partly due to 40 years as a depresive and partly because in 1969 when I was 11 and she was 17, my sister decided to end her life.

Mental illness is a label that gets used an awful lot. So much so that I think it's meaning has been muddied. What really constitutes mental illness? To me to be healthy requires two attitudes. One is some degree of a sense of wellbeing. I don't mean that you walk around in ahappy daze, I just mean that at least as ooften as not, you are glad to be alive. Second, you have some reasonable hope of a decent future. Not a great future, but at least one that is better than the state you are in when you want to end it.

Another phrase that gets thrown around a lot when this subject comes up is "there is always help". This is a popular myth. Psychiatry has made great inroads over the last century, but it still has a very long way to go.

No, suicide pills should not be sold over the counter. They really shouldn't be that easy to get. Besides, I'm pretty sure most states already have laws on the books against committing suicide. And remember, this is America, where almost any adult can readily buy a gun. Guns are one of the reasons why men are much better at ending their lives than women. Men are much more likely to use a gun and they are effective. I think Sylvia Plath tried to off herself four or five times before she finally succeeded sticking her head in a gas oven. I guess she didn't want to leave a mess.

My sister was not so finicky, she used our father's rifle and made a "proper job of it". Besides at her funeral, the last I saw of her was seeing her long brown hair spilling out of the wheelbarrow my father had put her in. He had covered her with a blanket but the hair was still visible. I'd like to think that, had she lived, she may have gone on to live a reasonably happy life. It's hard to say though, we certainly don't get any guarantees. I can tell you that our father, who was almost 50 when his first child was born, lived with that grief for the rest of his life. He only ever had two children and I promised myself 40 years ago that I would not make that fine old man go through that pain again.

Anyway, that's where I'm coming from. I'm all in favor of suicide, but it does leave a lot of pain in it's wake.

Good post! Sorry to hear about your sister. That's the problem with suicide and death the wake of pain it leaves. It is also a good reason to let a dying person know it's OK for them to die so they don't feel guilty. When I was a lot younger I understood how someone can commit suicide because I knew they were in more pain psychologically than even the fear and dread of death or life that was unbearable. Some times we fear the thing we want most. Solitary

[Solitary]

Forget about the black market.  Rat poison and aspirin come immediately to mind.  There are probably many others.  Iodine?  There are probably many OTC medications available.  Any biochemists here want to list the things sold in a supermarket that cause relatively painless and quick death?  (I'm not talking about drain cleaner - that's terrifically painful.)  Just because it's not labeled "Suicide Pill" doesn't mean that it's not.  (I believe one of the "sodium free" table salts is potassium chloride, which can be lethal in pretty small doses.)

You are correct, it will kill you, as will Potassium Gluconite with an overdose. They use potassium in surgery to stop the heart. Another one is drinking a gallon (I believe.) of water straight because it messes up your electrolytes. Still best way is what they use to euthanize animals or carbon monoxide gas. Also breathing helium straight from the tank without putting it in a balloon first.  :shock: Drowning is quick and painless too. When you take a deep breath underwater you go unconscious immediately. I think skydiving would be a fun way to do it---roll on your back and relax until Para Nirvana. :shock:  I know TMI. But the point is you don't need pills to do it, just quit eating and drinking and sing like Karen Carpenter did.  :shock:    Solitary

[Crump]

No!

[Plu]

Why not?

[mykcob4]

NO!

[Plu]

It's always cute to see small minds use bigger text in an attempt to conceal their lack of arguments  

[mykcob4]

It's always cute to see small minds use bigger text in an attempt to conceal their lack of arguments  

Funny PLU! There are so many arguements that it just isn't worth going into. But thanks for being an asshole. That just proves the lack of thought you put into your post.
As to the OP question:
No
1) abuse
2) illegal use
3) suicide on a whimp, I don't think so
4) There are many alternatives to a suicide pill. Lets not add yet another way for people to make a mistake.

That is not to say that I disagree with assisted suicide. I do agree with a very regulated well thought out process for assisted suicide.
So just because I used a larger font and bolded my answer in no way means that I have a small mind or that I have no agruements concealed or otherwise.
You fucking idiot!!!!!!