castor beans

[TheBorneoPost] Ricin? Why is it so deadly?: RICIN is a protein that is found in castor beans. Chewing castor ... castor beans

Comments

Roberts

Processing technique of castor seeds Odia PRAGATI Odisha

Bhowmick

.at.Floridawg Ricin is from castor beans. Arrested suspect lives in Corinth. Elvis lives.

Mitchell

What is ricin?: Ricin is a natural, highly toxic compound that is one of the byproducts of processing castor beans. castor beans

Hú

Ricin from Castor Beans-- Deadly Lectin (read previous posts on Lectins)

Select Symptoms Clinicians might... castor beans

Sahni

What is ricin?: Ricin is a natural, highly toxic compound that is one of the byproducts of processing castor beans. castor beans

Fukuda

Top Poisons that Threaten Your Family

Shimizu

THIS PAGE IS MENT TO BE A JOKE (ok,a bad joke) AND IS NOT MENT TO BE A "SELF_SUICIDING_GUIDE"
IF YOU ARE NOT IN A GOOD MOOD, DON'T READ FOLLOWING TEXT
SUICIDE - Methods

1. HANGING

2 methods

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. See later "Asphyxiation"
section. Someone did this about 10 meters from where I was sleeping
once. Worked perfectly.

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 force of the drop (in g). Use a hangman's knot (with
the knot at the back of your neck).

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.''

2. POISON

Availability of effective poisons restricted.
Normally painless, but depends on drug.
Large danger of discovery because slow.
Available compounds dangerous, have side effect if survived. Fairly
common, usually ineffective (depends on drug, dose and luck). Takes
from 10 seconds to fortnight or more.

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 (they precipitate cyanide and
similarly shaped molecules from the blood stream. This frequently
blocks blood supply into toes, ears... so you could lose one or two if
you are ``rescued''). 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.

The following is something I saw on the net: ``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 aand 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 concen- tration 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 the solution is 0.1 cc. Since this is an extremely
rapid poison, rapid action is necessary. Occasionally the victim may
make a few voluntary actions before death results or alarming symptoms
set in. Death results from paralysis of the respiration. When a
smaller dose is taken the symptoms are diziness, headache, and
shortness of breath followed by convulsions, coma, and collapse.

If amyl nitrate is available, have the victim inhale it immediately
for 20 seconds. Have the victim swallow 2 tablespoonfuls of hydrogen
peroxide. Have the victim inhale ammonia. Administer oxygen.''

[ed - cure sounds pretty bad.. drink bleach?? yuk]

Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid)

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

Paracetamol (aka acet[a|yl]minopren / 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.

Sleeping tablets

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 (and probably also the phase
of the moon!). The following is from sci.med (on USENET): ``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. I don't believe any permanent
damage occured in the above case [ed - the poster was talking about a
specific case of a single very heavy drinking session]. 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: gallons of the stuff (14 litres mentioned)
Time: 12 hours or so?
Available: always available unless you're in Kuwait.
Certainty: so-so (not certain about this)
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 A.S.H., Dec.
1990. ``About a year ago a local newspaper carried a story about a
woman who had drunk herself to death. Apparently she had injested
something mildly poisonous, and when she called her doctor asking him
what to do, he told her to drink lots of water and see him in the
morning. She got to it and managed to drink no less than 14 litres of
water before the osmotic balance in her body was so upset it could no
longer function and she died (don't know how quickly)''.

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

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. Not really my cup of tea...

(?) 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: Probably quite quickly into coma
Available: Difficult to get hold of unless you're a diabetic or a vet
Certainty: Very certain if dose is high enough & not discovered
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.

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.

Drink undiluted, shake bottle first since it settles. It causes
diarhoea after about half an hour.

Phosphine gas from aluminium phosphide pesticide (ALP)

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

Carbon Monoxide

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.

Nitrous oxide (N20? NO2?)

Dosage: Unknown
Time: Minutes
Available: Dentists supply would be good
Certainty: reasonable
Notes: Asphyxiate yourself with laughing gas. Nice.

Caffiene

Dosage: 20 grammes
Time: not known
Available: Caffiene tablets available in Chemist shops
Certainty: don't know
Notes: I don't know very much about this.

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).

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. Interesting to see what happens if you inject it into
your carotid artery, if it stops nervous tissue from working.

Rat poison (Warfarin)

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

Chlorine gas

Dosage: not known - but probably sufficient generated in suggested
method
Time: not known
Available: Get about 4 litres of concentrated bleach, and the same of
ammonia
Certainty: Good
Notes: This was used in the first world war in the trenches, so it's
got to be effective. You go into a small room, block off all the
ventilation, and pour the bleach and ammonia into a bucket. This
produces chlorine, you breath it in, and hey presto! I suspect that
this is quite painful, if you are ``rescued'' there is a danger of
either lung damage, or a slow lingering death.

Digitalis (Foxglove extract?)

Dosage: not known
Time: Probably minutes
Available: Do foxgloves grow in your area?
Certainty: probably good given sufficient dosage
Notes: Gives you a heart-attack. Undetectable after death, so if you
don't want to let your friends/relatives to know that your death was a
suicide use this. I don't know how to extract digitalis from foxglove,
nor do I know what the dosage is. Heart attacks are painful, but the
advantages in using an undetectable method make this very attractive.

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: (?): 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: (?): 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: (?): 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: (?): 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: (?): ``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: (?) and (?): 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''.

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.

Colchicine (Acetyltrimethylcolchicinic acid)

Dosage: 7 mg to 60 mg
Time: symptoms in about 4 hours, death in about 4 days
Available: Easily available (from large garden centre)
Certainty: certain
Notes: 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. Best thing about this one is
the name of the acid!

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: (?) and (?): 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: (?): 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: (?): 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: (?): 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: (?) says: ``Everything I have ever read about death from plant
poisoning indicates that it is risky and painful. Symptoms range from
nausea and vomiting to cramping and bloody diarrhea. ... Altogether, I
consider poisonous plants as a means of exit far too unreliable and
painful. No matter how desperate you are, don't even think about it!''

Nicotine (yep - distilled fags!)

Dosage: extract from 100g tabacco. 40-60 mg pure.
Time: everal 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: 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.

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.

Hydrazine

Dosage: As produced by reaction
Time: Not known, fortnight?
Available: Bottle of bleach & bottle of ammonia
Certainty: not known
Notes: Something quoted verbatim from the net: ``This is no joke,
Dale. 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.''
[ed - one of the more nasty methods]

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.

Iron (diet suppliments)

Dosage: unknown
Time: unknown
Available: diet, health food shops
Certainty: good
Notes: (?): ``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]

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)

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.

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''

4. SLITTING WRISTS OR OTHER (pathetic)

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

5. BULLET

Time: Microseconds unless you are unlucky (mins/hours)
Available: Difficult in UK, easier in USA (get a shotgun)
Certainty: Certain
Notes: Painless if worked, otherwise painful & brain damage. Danger of
discovery of weapon or ammunition.
Not at all common in UK, more common in USA where guns available.
Brain damage & other effects if you survive. Death either
instantaneous, or prolonged.
Lots of will power needed to fire gun ('hesitation marks' are
bullets/pellets embedded in the wall, when you jerk the gun as you
fire). Bullet can miss vital parts in skull, deflect off skull.

Note: fill mouth with water, aim about 45 degrees from vertical, this
is reliable* since shockwave from water will kill instantly.

Note: several people have suggested that this is unreliable. See
"Shotgun" below (since much more effective).
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.

6. ASPHYXIATION

Time: 5 mins to unconciousness, 10+ mins to brain death
Available: Anywhere there's a rope and something solid to tie it to
Certainty: Certain, if yoou don't get ``rescued''
Notes: Panic reaction is very likely (unless inert gasses used). One
of the most effective and most used methods of suicide. Probable brain
damage if you are ``rescued''.

Note, this can only really be done in two ways: firstly, when you are
unconsious (eg, sleeping pills), or secondly, by hanging. Combining
with pure inert gasses is a very good suggestion. See "Nitrogen" in
the poisons section

7. AIR IN VEINS (basically just a myth)

Time: Eternity
Available: Plenty of air about... Need a hypodermic & stringe
Certainty: Almost zero (you might catch something from the needle)
Notes: This doesn't work, unless you inject absolutely massive amounts
of air (it all goes out of the lungs). Myth caused by the way that
doctors squirt a syringe before using it to get rid of contaminants.
If you have to try it, go for the carotid artery, since this goes to
the brain. If you want a heart attack, you will have to inject
something on the order of 20-50ml every heart-beat (these are
ball-park figures) for several heart beats. Good luck!

8. DECAPITATION

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

9. DISEMBOWELMENT (aka seppuku/hara kiri)

Time: Minutes
Available: Got a nice razor-sharp sword?
Certainty: Fairly certain, assuming that you managed to gut yourself
properly before passing out with the agony
Notes: Painful, even the 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 (usually 5 mins, but up to 20 mins in cold water)
Available: Anywhere there's deep 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.

11. ELECTROCUTION

Time: Seconds / minutes
Available: Anywhere with high-tension, high-current lines & a good
earth
Certainty: Somewhat dependant on luck & how much power goes through
you
Notes: Don't bother with 110 or 240 volt mains, its just not enough.
Some people do get killed with household electricity, but only after
several minutes. Use high tension lines, stand in bare feet on
waterlogged ground (better still, but a piece of THICK copper cable
into the nearest river). Works best if current path travels through
your head, or through the heart. Just burns you badly otherwise.

12. EXPLOSIVES

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

13. FREEZING TO DEATH

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.

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. A friend's
cousin did this, worked well.

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. My Dad
worked at a dynamite factory, and knew someone who used to put TNT
into his car (1 teaspoon per gallon). It burned out the engine in a
couple of months.

16. STARVING TO DEATH

Time: Typically a month, although depends on your health to start
with, and how much fat is available
Available: Anywhere where you can't be force-fed
Certainty: Certain as long as you never get any medical help (this is
trickier than it sounds)
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.

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.

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...

19. ENLIST (silly)

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

20. PENCILS UP YOUR NOSE, BANG DOWN ONTO TABLE

Time: Seconds or never
Available: All you need is a couple of sharp pencils and a table
Certainty: Very uncertain
Notes: This is a myth, I think, since the pencils would go into your
frontal lobes, which are basically optional! This is the legendary
``exam suicide''. Fine if you want a DIY frontal-lobotomy rather than
death!

21. GETTING SOMEONE TO MURDER YOU

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

22. MAKE YOURSELF INTO AN H-BOMB (another silly one)

Time: Speed of light over 1/2 metre (couple of nanoseconds)
Available: Nuke (fission OR fusion), 10 litres of heavy water
Certainty: 100%
Notes: Drink the heavy water for several days, strap yourself to the
nuke, and press the button. If you retained a couple of litres of the
heavy water, the additional yield should be .02 * c2 (joules?). The
problem here is getting hold of the nuke without anyone noticing. If
you are discovered before you trigger the gadget, the city authorities
are liable to be somewhat irate. Also heavy water is a poison, so you
might not survive that long anyway.

23. MICROMACHINES/NANOCOMPUTERS (science fiction)

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

24. SCUBA-DIVING (various fatal `accidents')

Time: see notes -most are minutes/hours
Available: scuba diving gear, nobody around
Certainty: see notes
Notes: The first method is to rise 30 metres or so without releasing
your breath. Assuming that you can do it, it should cause your lungs
to burst. The second is the bends - stay under long enough for the
nitrogen to dissolve (30 metres for 30 minutes). go up rapidly without
decompression time. This is unreliable, and may cause brain / joint
damage. The third way is Carbon Monoxide poisoning - fill your tank
with it, and stay away from other divers. You will fall asleep fairly
quickly. See CO in poisons section. The final way is oxygen narcosis -
however, this means that you have to go very deep with an oxygen-rich
mix, and there are problems associated with that. The advantage of
these methods is that insurance companies / relatives will assume that
it was an accident (`misadventure'), with the possible exception of
the CO poisoning.

The source of this follows: (from the net)
``Rising 30m without exhaling will usually result in an over pressured
lung, possible subcuteaneous emphazema, collapsed lung, death usually
from drowning in your own blood. Rather painful and usually curable if
you are rescued, but fair chance of dying if you aren't.
Building up a high residual nitrogen time (say 30m for 30 min) then
coming up without decompressing will get you bent fairly nicely. You
don't feel much, but your joints tend to start stiffening up after
half an hour. Death is very uncertain, coming from a stroke. Brain
damage, joint damage etc are most likely. Pobably can be recued but
some damage certain. Oxygen poisoning, going down 50+m until the
partial pressure of the oxygen reaches a toxic level. Difficult to
accomplish, very painful to get down that deep, cold pressure etc,
possibility of nitrogen narcosis and forgetting what you are doing.
Probably get bent, good chance of rescue.
CO poisoning, mix a healthy batch of carbon monoxide in your tank as
you dive, you tend to go to sleep under water, when combined with the
above methods you have a pretty good winner, don't forget to forget
your BCD.''
[ed - whats a BCD?]

25. SUCKING YOUR BRAINS OUT

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

26. MICROWAVES

Time: ?
Available: Source of strong microwave emissions
Certainty: ?
Notes: ?

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.

28. SKYDIVING `ACCIDENT'

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

29. DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS; MODERN VERSION

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

30. CRUSHING

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

31. WORLD WAR THREE

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

32. HEATSTROKE

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

33.ACID BATH

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

34.FAKE CAR BOMB

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

35.JUMPING OFF BRIDGES (slice and dice with piano wire)

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

36.BEING EATEN ALIVE

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

37.BEING BURNED UP IN UNPROTECTED RE-ENTRY (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: (?): 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.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 4m3). 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)