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WARNING:

Some of the entries in this FAQ may be dangerous - that is, the dosages in the drugs and poisons area may be much too small to kill a human.  This FAQ is being maintained at the current time for historical purposes only.  Persons researching methods for self-deliverance should check other methods areas of this website, or, as suggested in the Preamble below, do your own research in a library.  Commonly available texts which are useful include The Merck Index and the Physician's Desk Reference.  The Bibliography below also lists several useful primary sources. 

                                   Preamble
                                       
  NOTES
  
   This list is compiled from a large number of sources, the main one
   being this newsgroup (ASH). I have not named anyone in any of the
   entries to ensure their privacy.
   
   Calle:
          I, on the other hand, will name sources if (and only if) the
          sources give me permission.
          
   There may be inaccuracies in many of the entries... double check if
   you can. Go to the library and read up on your favorite method - check
   dosages in the manufacturer's data sheets. If you do notice any
   inaccuracies, please write to the net ASAP.
   
  LEGAL
  
   This file is provided for the purposes of amusement, and the actual
   use of any of these methods is not recommended without first
   considering other possibilities, such as dying of old age. Please do
   not pass it onto people whom you know to be actively suicidal.. you
   may find yourself in jail for considerable periods. I have a small
   amount of info on British law regarding assisting suicides; feel free
   to ask me for a copy. Basically, distribution to a number of unknown
   people is fine, but giving it to someone whom you know is actively
   considering suicide can get you into jail for up to 14 years.
   
   I should also point out that this file is distributed world-wide, and
   there will be significant differences in the legal aspects in other
   countries.
   
   Calle:
          For example, in Sweden the distribution of this file is
          completely legal, according to a lawyer I know. As long as you
          don't physically help someone to commit suicide, you're safe.
          According to the lawyer mentioned above, Dr. Kevorkian's
          suicide machine would probably be legal in Sweden.
          
  BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
  
    1. "Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted
       Suicide for the Dying" Derek Humphry (publisher: Hemlock)
    2. alt.suicide.holiday newsgroup on "usenet"
    3. alt.med newsgroup on "usenet"
    4. "Poisonous Plants and Fungi: an Illustrated Guide" (Ministry of
       Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods) M R Cooper, A W Johnson
    5. "Encyclopedia of Human Biology"
       
     * "Let Me Die Before I Wake" Derek Humphry
     * "Suicide, Mode d'Emploi" Claude Guillon, Yves Le Bonniec
     * "Zorg jij dak ik niet meer wakker word?" Klazien Sybrandy, Rob
       Bakker
     * "How To Die With Dignity" George B Mair, EXIT (Scottish)
     * "A Guide To Self-Deliverance" EXIT (Britain)
     * "Autodeliverance" Michel L Landa
     * "Justifiable Euthanasia" Pieter V Admiraal
     * "First You Cry" Betty Rollin
     * "Last Wish" Betty Rollin
     * "Death of a Man" Lael Wertenberger
     * "Jean's Way" Derek Humphry
     * "The Savage God: A Study of Suicide" A Alvarez
     * "Double Exit" Ann Wickett
     * "Voluntary Euthanasia: A Comprehensive Bibliography" G Johnson
       (Hemlock)
     * "The Woman Said Yes" Jessamyn West
     * "The Bell Jar" Sylvia Plath
     * "Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products" Williams & Wilkins
       Company
     * "Suicide: The Gamble with Death" Gene & David Lester
     * "Crisis Intervention in the Community" Richard K McGee
     * "Wanting to Die" Anne Sexton
     * "Bitter Fame" (bio about) Sylvia Plath (author is) Anne Stevenson
     * "Letters Home" (bio about) Sylvia Plath (author is) Aurelia S
       Plath
     * "Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones & his People"
       Dutton
     * "Essays in Self-Destruction" (ed) Edwin S Shneidman
     * "Suicide: A Study in Sociology" Emile Durkheim
     * "Suicide and Attempted Suicide" Erwin Stengel
     * "Endangered Hope: Experiences in Psychiatric Aftercare Facilities"
       David K Reynolds, Norman L Farberow
     * "Death Wishes? The Understanding & Managment of Deliberate Self
       Harm" H G Morgan
     * "The Final Months: a Study of the Lives of 134 Persons who
       Committed Suicide" Eli Robins
     * "Suicide: Inside and Out" David K Reynolds, Normal L Farberow
     * "Attempted Suicide: A Practical Guide to its Nature and
       Management" Keith Hawton, Jose Catalan
     * "The Negative Scream: A Story of Young People Who Took an
       Overdose" Sally O'Brien
     * "Caring for the Suicidal" John Eldrid
     * "The Samaritans: to help those tempted to suicide or despair" Chad
       Varah
     * "Mishima: A Biography" John Nathan
     * "Self-Mutilation: Theory, Research, and Treatment" Barent W Walsh,
       Paul M Rosen
     * "Defeating Depression: a Guide for Depressed People and Their
       Familes" C A H Watts
     * "Depression: The Way Out of Your Prison" Dorothy Rowe
     * "The Oxford Book of Death" D J Enright
       
   This booklist is an extended list from [1]. I strongly recommend [1],
   try getting it mail order from the address below.
   
   Calle:
          Not used in the creation of this file, but recommended on the
          newsgroup was: "The Enigma Of Suicide" by George Howe Colt
          
  GROUPS
  
  **NOTE:  Hemlock Society address updated 12/14/2000 by a.s.h webspinner at
the request of the Hemlock Society**
  
   Hemlock Society USA            [American, pro-euthanasia, many books,
   PO Box 101810                   Derek Humphry is founder]
   Denver, CO 10180
   USA
   hemlock@hemlock.org

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

   Befrienders International     [International, suicide prevention,
                                  umbrella organisation]

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

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

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

   Club of Life                  [American, anti-euthanasia]

  INDEX
  
   to get index, type 'grep == methods >methods_index' in unix.
   
   I will try to add an index in the next days --erik
   
                                   Methods:
                                       
  POISON
  
   [1] makes most of these points:
     * Most drugs cause vomiting. To help stop this, take one or two
       anti- histamine tablets (travel sickness, allergy, hayfever
       tablets etc) about0 an hour before, on a fairly empty stomach.
     * If the drugs are in tablet form, take the first 20% as they are,
       and the rest crushed and dissolved / mixed in with strong alcohol
       / food. This helps the drugs to hit at the same time.
     * Alcohol helps dissolve the drugs. Don't drink any beforehand, but
       wash the tablets down with vodka or similar, and then drink
       afterwards while you're still conscious.
     * Use a large airtight plastic bag over your head, + something
       around your neck to hold it on. This transforms a 90% certainty
       method into a 99%...
     * Friday night is a good time if you life alone - nobody will miss
       you until Monday if you work. Bolt all the doors you can. Say
       you'll be out over the weekend visiting someone, so people don't
       expect a reply to telephone.
     * Some painkillers etc have less effect if you use them normally
       (tolerance).
     * In general, you need to stay away from medical help until you
       actually die, but there are exceptions to this (that have been
       pointed out in the text).
       
  Common drugs:
  
     * Cyanide (HCN, KCN)
       
        Dosage:
                50 mg Hydrogen Cyanide gas, 200-300 mg Cyanide salts
                
        Time: 
                seconds for HC, minutes Cs (empty stomach) hours (full s)
                
        Available:
                very difficult to get hold of
                
        Certainty:
                very certain
                
        Notes: 
                It helps to have an empty stomach (since the salts react
                with the stomach acids to form H.C.). A full stomach can
                delay death for up to four hours with the salts.
                Antidotes to cyanide poisoning exist, but they have
                serious side effects. What you can do, is instead of
                taking the salts directly, drop 500mg or so into a strong
                acid, and inhale the fumes. This will be pure Hydrogen
                Cyanide, and you should die in 10 to 20 seconds.
                
                [3]: "Hydrocyanic acid is one of the most poisonous
                substances known; the inhalation of its fumes in high
                concentration will cause almost immediate death. Hydrogen
                cyanide acts by preventing the normal process of tissue
                oxidation and paralyzing the respiratory center in the
                brain. Most of the accidental cases are due to inhaling
                the fumes during a fumigating process. In the pure state
                it kills with great rapidity. Crystalline cyanides, such
                as potassium or sodium cyanide are equally poisonous,
                since they interact with the hydrochloric acid in the
                stomach to liberate hydrocyanic acid. This poison has
                been used for both homicide and suicide; in recent
                history, a number of European political figures carried
                vials of cyanide salt for emergency self-destruction and
                some used them. Death resulted from amounts of only a
                fraction of a gram. A concentration of 1 part in 500 of
                hydrogen cyanide gas is fatal. Allowable working
                concentration in most of the United States is 20 ppm. Two
                and one-half grains of liquid acid has killed. The acid
                acts fatally in about 15 minutes. The cyanide salts kill
                in several hours. The average dose of solution is 0.1 cc.
                
                [1, DGHS talking about KCN]:
                on an empty stomach, take a small glass of cold tap
                water. (Not mineral water nor any sort of juice or soda
                water because of it's acidity). Stir 1 -> 1.5 grammes of
                KCN into the water. More than that causes irritation to
                the throat. Wait 5 minutes to dissolve. It should be
                drunk within several hours. Consciousness will be lost in
                about a minute. Death will follow 15 -> 45 minutes later.
                
     * Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid)
       
        Dosage:
                20-30+ grammes (too many cause vomitting)
                
        Time: 
                hours to days, variable
                
        Available:
                easy to get hold of (get soluble ones, & dissolve them)
                
        Certainty:
                unreliable
                
        Notes: 
                Not recommended, fatal dose varies wildly, could cause
                liver & kidney damage instead of death. OD causes strange
                noises in your ears (like a video arcade) & projectile
                vomiting after about 10 hours. Medical help generally
                effective, so stay out of hospital for a couple of days.
                May cause bleeding in your stomach/upper intestines. Take
                with sodium bicarbinate (eg, bicarb. of soda), which
                speeds up the absorption (sp?) significantly. Take 1 or 2
                antihistamine tablets.
                
     * Paracetamol (aka acetaminopren / tylenol)
       
        Dosage: 
                15+ grammes, 20+ is better
                
        Time: 
                10 hours fatal damage, but 2 weeks to actually die
                
        Available:
                easy to get hold of
                
        Certainty:
                fairly reliable
                
        Notes: 
                Once 10-12 hours is up, you've had it, but you still live
                for a week or two after that. Probably better to wait 15
                hours just to make sure. Horrible side effects during
                this time (some of which are: acute toxic hepatitis,
                renal failure, cerebral oedema, intra-abdominal bleeding,
                aspiration pneumonia, haemophilia). Too small dose causes
                severe liver damage. Accidental deaths are very common.
                There are few if any side effects before the damage
                becomes fatal; occasionally vomitting and nausea.
                
     * Sleeping tablets (see specific notes for each kind)
       See later entries for amobarbital, butabarbital, diazepam,
       flurazepam, glutethimide, chloral hydrate, hydromorphone,
       meprobamate, methyprylon, meperidine (pethidine), methadone,
       morphine, orphenadrine, phenobarbital [also check trade names in
       same entries].
     * Alcohol (spirits preferably, your choice)
       
        Dosage: 
                1/2 litre vodka?, similar. Varies from person to person.
                
        Time: 
                about 8 hours
                
        Available:
                good
                
        Certainty:
                unreliable
                
        Notes: 
                will cause liver and kidney damage if 'rescued' before
                death. Drink it all at the same time, quickly as
                possible. Dosage is questionable, I don't have any
                figures. Taking the spirits as an enema is supposed to be
                a very quick way of absorbing alcohol, but a less
                unpleasant way is to inject it. The dosage it takes to
                kill you depends on whether you drink normally, the state
                of your liver, whether you pass out on your back or not.
                [3]: "The fatal dose of pure alcohol in an average adult
                is 300-400 mL (750-1000 mL of 40% alcohol) if consumed in
                less than one hour. Apart from the effects of overdosage,
                death after alcohol consumption can occur as a result of
                choking on vomit while unconscious. ..... Consequences
                such as liver damage occur after chronic consumption."
                Alcohol helps other drugs to dissolve. Don't drink it in
                advance, wash down tablets with it, & follow by drinking
                another few glasses of spirits.
                
     * Water
       
        Dosage: 
                14 litres mentioned
                
        Time: 
                12 hours or so?
                
        Available:
                always available
                
        Certainty:
                unknown
                
        Notes: 
                works by washing out the salts in your body, until the
                cells fail (osmotic balance buggered up). You need to
                keep drinking continually until you collapse. Unusual
                method. Someone suggested it would also cause cramps. The
                following is something from [2]: "About a year ago a
                local newspaper carried a story about a woman who had
                drunk herself to death. Apparently she had ingested
                something mildly poisonous, and when she called her
                doctor asking him what to do, he told her to drink lots
                of water and see him in the morning. She got to it and
                managed to drink no less than 14 litres of water before
                the osmotic balance in her body was so upset it could no
                longer function and she died (don't know how quickly)".
                
                Calle: The above anecdote originally came from me, and
                the death described occured in Vdxjv, Sweden.
                Unfortunately I no longer remember which newspaper I saw
                it in. Recently, I was told about a similar case in San
                Antonio. It supposedly happened a couple of years ago and
                was reported in the local San Antonio Express/News.
                
     * Bleach and other corrosives (lye, drain cleaning fluids)
       
        Dosage: 
                A bottle (litre or half litre)
                
        Time: 
                Hours/days
                
        Available:
                Easily available
                
        Certainty:
                Uncertain
                
        Notes: 
                Bloody painful - depends on your stomach getting
                corroded, the stomach acids escaping, and doing their
                dirty work in your vital organs.
                [1] says: "I have heard of people throwing themselves
                through plate glass windows in their death agonies after
                drinking lye."
                
     * Insulin (injected)
       
        Dosage: 
                No idea
                
        Time: 
                death in hours to days
                
        Available:
                Difficult to get hold of unless you're a diabetic or a
                vet
                
        Certainty:
                reasonable
                
        Notes: 
                Supposed to be quite pleasant (eg insulin shock
                treatments used for some psychiatric condition).
                
     * Petrol (in lungs/injected)
       
        Dosage: 
                "A Thimble-full" -20 ml?
                
        Time: 
                Seconds/minutes
                
        Available:
                Common
                
        Certainty:
                I'm not sure of the dosage, but fairly certain if correct
                
        Notes: 
                Can also use LPG (propane/butane) on skin surface (since
                these are light enough to go through the skin). Stick
                your hand in a bucket of propane and see how many seconds
                you last...
                
     * Oil of Wintergreen/Methyl Salicylate (in lungs/injected)
       
        Dosage: 
                Probably similar to petrol (20 ml)
                
        Time: 
                Don't know
                
        Available:
                Not available in concentration
                
        Certainty:
                Don't know
                
        Notes: 
                Don't have enough information on this one to be able to
                say anything about it. If it is just taken normally, it
                is the same as aspirin.
                
     * Malathion (insecticide) (entry revised by Calle)
       
        Dosage: 
                A few bottles, at least
                
        Time: 
                2 to 3 hours
                
        Available:
                From a large garden centre or DIY shop
                
        Certainty:
                not so good
                
        Notes: 
                A correspondent mentions that the LD50 of this stuff is 1
                g/kg in rats, and adds that there is not nearly that much
                in a bottle. He also mentions that it is treatable.
                Instead of this, he recommends parathion, if you really
                want to use an insecticide.
                
     * Phosphine gas from aluminium phosphide pesticide (ALP)
       
        Dosage: 
                Single 3 gramme tablet (".. is enough to kill 10 people")
                
        Time: 
                About 2 hours
                
        Available:
                Difficult. Used in India, sold on black market.
                
        Certainty:
                Without medical help, and using fresh pill, very good
                
        Notes: 
                This is a common way of committing suicide in Indian
                villages. There is no specific antidote to this. The
                pills are 3 grammes of ALP, which produces lethal
                phosphine gas when it comes in contact with hydrochloric
                acid or water in the stomach. After severe vomiting, the
                victim loses consciousness, the blood vessels rupture,
                and body cavities fill with blood. While the pill is
                exceedingly lethal, some escape death because the rate of
                the gas' release declines with the pill's age and use,
                and exposure to moisture. Trouble with this one is the
                availability, and it also looks like a rather unpleasant.
                
     * Rat poison (Warfarin)
       
        Dosage: 
                not known
                
        Time: 
                Hours to terminal damage, days to actual death
                
        Available:
                Available
                
        Certainty:
                Certain given suffient dosage. Most probably treatable.
                
        Notes: 
                This is one of the truly unpleasant poisons, along with
                Paracetamol/Acetylminopren. I think it causes cerebral
                haemorage (rat poison works by giving the unfortunate rat
                haemophillia). Doctors can't do anything about it, they
                just leave you to die in agony on an intensive care ward.
                
                Calle: Since human haemophiliacs usually live quite
                ordinary lives, the above sounds rather improbable.
                
     * Caffeine
       
        Dosage: 
                20 grammes (someone said 8 -> 10 grammes)
                
        Time: 
                not known
                
        Available:
                Caffeine tablets available in Chemist shops
                
        Certainty:
                don't know
                
        Notes: 
                I don't know very much about this. There isn't all that
                much caffeine in coffee, maybe 200 mg.
                
     * Potassium Chloride (injected in solution) / KCl
       
        Dosage: 
                not known (try 20cc injection of strong solution)
                
        Time: 
                Seconds to minutes
                
        Available:
                Widely available
                
        Certainty:
                Certain given correct dosage
                
        Notes: 
                Causes heart attack (which is painful). May be difficult
                for coroner to realise it was suicide rather than a
                natural heart attack. An excess of K+ in the blood
                interferes with nerve signals, and stops muscles and
                nerves from working. So when it reaches your heart, the
                heart stops.
                
     * Nitrogen gas (or other inert gas)
       
        Dosage: 
                Several litres uncompressed is minimum
                
        Time: 
                Minutes
                
        Available:
                Try plumber, or welding supplies company
                
        Certainty:
                Certain
                
        Notes: 
                This is really a form of asphyxiation, (see later), but
                is particularly good since you don't experience the lack
                of oxygen (what people really experience is the EXCESS of
                carbon dioxide).
                
     * Nitrous oxide (N20? NO2?)
       
        Dosage: 
                Unknown
                
        Time: 
                Minutes
                
        Available:
                Dentists supply would be good
                
        Certainty:
                reasonable
                
        Notes: 
                Asphyxiate yourself with laughing gas. Nice.
                
     * Carbon Monoxide (CO)
       
        Dosage: 
                5% concentration or so?
                
        Time: 
                Minutes to hours depending on concentration
                
        Available:
                You get it out of a car exhaust, you used to be able to
                use "town gas" (eg, stick your head in the cooker) but
                this is no longer available
                
        Certainty:
                Fairly certain, as long as you aren't "rescued"
                
        Notes: 
                Causes brain damage.
                
                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 : 
                I read this in some theater journal 5 or so years ago,
                saying when you you do full body makeup, you must insure
                that parts of the body are left naked to breathe or the
                actor will die. Usually for full body makeup, they leave
                the bottoms of feet, and some patterns on the body, like
                lines so the actor doesn't suffocate.
                
                Calle: This is an *extremely* silly one. It was in the
                "not yet 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 corneas only feed
                themselves.
                You might get ill or even die if you use poisonous paint,
                though.
                
   41. NITROUS OXIDE (N20, Laughing Gas)
       
        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?
   
                       Note by the a.s.h webspinner
   Mike's sig were also at the bottom of the File. At his request, it
   has been deleted.  It is further requested that sites mirroring this
   file, which have a version of the file with the name and address,
   delete that information.  Most of it is wrong anyway now.

Page last updated: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 07:41
Note: this is the last time the page was revised, -not- the
methods file.  The methods file hasn't been updated in years.


More currently researched information is at the a.s.h web methods page.

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