reassured by the knowledge that if the day became too difficult, he could leave at any time. Indeed, the presence of the drug prolonged Harry’s life.
The number of people who have a vet as their best friend, a friend prepared to risk jail for them is very small. There has only been a handful of occasions when I have seen help provided in this way, and Harry’s was one of them. Perhaps the question put to patients should be rephrased, perhaps I should be asking ‘have you ever had an affair with a vet?’ When I told this story at a recent public meeting, one elderly woman shouted back ‘I wish you’d told me that 40 years ago.’
Nembutal and the Black Market
Exit receives occasional reports of people paying a very high price on the black market for Nembutal. Desperate for the drug, some have paid over $5000 for a single 100ml bottle of veterinary Nembutal. This same bottle would retail to a vet for less than $50. Despite the huge potential profit to a dealer, Nembutal is rarely found this way. The usual laws of supply and demand that govern the illegal drug trade do not apply, as no one will ever want more than one bottle of this drug. Supply chains do not therefore develop.
The Nembutal that does find its way on to the street is usually in the form of the sterile veterinary liquid. It is presumed that it is obtained when veterinary clinics are broken into by people looking for tradeable veterinary steroids.
If the seal and labelling of a Nembutal bottle is intact and the expiry date not exceeded, the drug is likely to be effective.