How my teenage son bought Nembutal online
This story is about how Joe a teenage Australian boy was able to buy Nembutal online using the Peaceful Pill Handbook.
On 10 January 2014 my son, Joe, committed suicide using the drug Nembutal. He obtained the Nembutal from the international website Exit International, set up by Philip Nitschke. Joe found The Peaceful Pill Handbook on this website. This book was written by Philip Nitschke and his wife, Fiona. The drug Nembutal is the peaceful pill. There are specific instructions on how to buy Nembutal online in this book.
I would like to make it clear to everybody who is here today that I do believe in euthanasia if a person is seriously ill and does not wish to die in pain. Euthanasia would be appropriate in my opinion. My son, Joe, was not dying. He was physically fit, but in retrospect he was suicidal and depressed.
In mid-2013 Joe had come back to live with us after moving out of home for 12 months. He moved back home because he had lost his part-time job, had no money and was unemployed. He was taking a break from study and had nearly finished a bachelor of design.
There was no history of depression with Joe beforehand. I thought that Joe may be depressed, because as soon as he moved back in with us he was having trouble sleeping and was irritable and anxious at times. He was looking for a job but could not find one. He had one subject to do so he could finish his degree but was not motivated to finish the subject. His behaviour at times was out of character for him. I could not put my finger on
what was wrong with Joe. He would at times make up stories that were not true. He would behave in a manic way — for example, talking very quickly, saying strange things and acting impulsively — which was unlike Joe. At other times he behaved as he normally did. He had a wonderful sense of humour. He was very caring, a good listener and interested in everyone. The room lit up when Joe walked in.
He did see two psychologists in mid-2013 after I persuaded him to. He only went to see them both one time each and then did not continue seeing them, as he said he did not want to. He continued to insist he was not depressed. He did not ask for help or give any indication to his friends and family that he was suicidal, although I noticed that he was not happy at times and he slept a lot. But he would put on a mask of happiness when he met with friends or other family outside of the house.
After Joe suicided, we found information on his iPad which he had downloaded. My husband found The Peaceful Pill Handbook on the iPad, which Joe had downloaded from the Exit International website, which is on the internet, and he had ordered the Nembutal by post from China. The peaceful pill book includes very specific instructions, which we read, on how to obtain Nembutal. Anyone here today can order this drug and import it by post from China, as Joe did, within two weeks. The packet of Nembutal arrived inside a greetingcard. To obtain Nembutal is very easy to do: just google ‘euthanasia’ or ‘peaceful pill handbook’.
AHPRA have done as much as they can within their power to put restrictions on Philip Nitschke. He cannot do workshops on how to kill yourself. He cannot spruik Nembutal or nitrogen as ways to kill yourself anymore.
But his website Exit International and The Peaceful Pill Handbook, which he and his wife, Fiona, wrote, can still be downloaded off the internet. If anyone now wanted to download The Peaceful Pill Handbook, which gives methods of killing yourself and how to order Nembutal from China, it is very easy and could be done by anyone here today.
I have written to many government agencies since Joe suicided, explaining how my son suicided and how easy it was for him to access Exit International. They have all handballed me onto another government agency, and therefore I have just gone around in circles. Euthanasia is obviously a hot potato which the Australian government continues to put in the too-hard basket. I have been told by various government agencies that, even if Exit International and other websites like it are closed down, another website will pop up. That may be true, but at the moment these websites are extremely easy to access. In this world, where most people are computer savvy, the government must catch up and be on top of these websites. Close them down. If they pop up again, close them down again and again. At least restrict the sites so that it is very difficult for people like Joe to access them.
