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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

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

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

   Befrienders International     [International, suicide prevention,
                                  umbrella organisation]

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

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

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

   Club of Life                  [American, anti-euthanasia]

INDEX

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

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 Växjö, 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?

Mike's sig were also at the bottom of the File. It follows here, for
historic reasons:

Mail: 176 Hampstead Rd               EMail: Michael.Marsden@newcastle.ac.uk
      Benwell                        Direct SMTP Mail, Talk,
      Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 8TP     and Finger:   n03vk@turing.ncl.ac.uk

Unfortunately, the mail address doesn't work any more.

Well, that's all. Comments are very welcome.

--
Calle Dybedahl,Torpareg. 94, S-583 31 Linkoeping,SWEDEN | calle@lysator.liu.se
        "I think quotes are very dangerous things." -KaTe Bush

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