Self-Determined Dying with Poisonous Plants

Download or read book Self-Determined Dying with Poisonous Plants written by Jessica Düber and published by . This book was released on 2021-07-07 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jessica Düber Self-Determined Dying with Poisonous Plants - The Yew Using poisonous plants to induce death is an option that has not had a good reputation in the euthanasia literature of recent years. The actual active ingredient content of the plant is often too uncertain, the effects too incalculable, and the death, often experienced while fully conscious, too agonizing. And indeed, the symptoms caused by herbal poisoning that precede death do not sound pleasant in any case. Thus, in my work so far, I have also focused on the currently "modern" methods - besides inducing hypoxia through various approaches, these are mainly methods in which drugs are taken in severe overdose. However, the "perfect dying pill" does not exist or is not available for people willing to die - due to lack of political will (e.g., pentobarbital, which in high doses leads to a peaceful sleep followed by a peaceful death and which is also used for rapid and painless euthanasia of non-human animals). Thus, in methods that induce death by drug overdose, one usually uses a combination of different agents. Again, it is often the case that the lethal agent alone would result in a very unpleasant death and therefore must be combined with a strong sleeping agent so that the dying process is not consciously experienced. To be able to use poisonous plants for self-determined dying, they should also be combined with additional substances (antiemetics, and strong sleeping pills). With this premise in mind, I looked at poisonous plants and examined their potential uses for suicide.The great advantage of herbal poisons is that they are very easy to obtain and we cannot be denied access to them. In the use of pharmaceuticals, we depend on availability in pharmacies, on the black market, or just liberal legislation. With sufficient knowledge about the possibilities of nature, on the other hand, no one will be able to restrict us in our self-determination. Therefore, I would like to introduce the yew tree in this little booklet.