Over the last 30 years the barbiturates have slowly disappeared from the market. The fact that in overdose they caused death, either accidentally or deliberately, and the availability of newer, safer sleeping drugs has led to their decline. Nembutal was removed from most countries’ prescribing schedules in the late 1990s.
Perceived Benefits of a Peaceful Pill
While there are any number of ways by which a seriously ill person can end their life, few of these methods meet our criteria of:
• reliable
• peaceful •
dignified.
In most western countries, hanging and gun shot remain the most common methods of suicide.
Yet few people would choose such means if they had any real choice. Most seriously ill or elderly people who are considering death, seek a method that is peaceful, dignified and pain free. Most commonly, this is expressed as, ‘I simply want to go to sleep and die in my sleep.’
Fig 3.2: Survey of Exit Members Methods of Self Deliverance
