A “peaceful pill” for people who want to commit suicide will be made available by mail order in 2010. The pill is a stable solid form of the barbiturate Nembutal. Developed by the euthanasia group Exit International, it is designed to withstand transport and can be stored for up to 50 years. Customers will only have to mix it with water. An activation kit with the chemicals for reconstitution and a test kit to check the strength of the resulting product are nearly finished so that the pill can be distributed.

Dr Philip Nitschke, a leading right-to-die advocate and director of Exit International, said “Exit believes that all seniors of sound mind should have the option of a peaceful death at the time of their choosing should this be their wish – this Exit Pill will go some way to ensuring this.” Nitschke is set to hold instructional suicide talks in San Francisco this Sunday. ~ Assisted-Suicide Blog Oct 30, CBC News Nov 4