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Liquid Barbiturate |
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The Peaceful
Pill is a metaphor for achieving a peaceful, dignified death at a time of one's choosing.
The Peaceful Pill concept was first put forward by the late Dutch Supreme
Court Judge, Huib Drion. In 1991, Drion wrote
a letter to the editor of the Dutch newspaper
NRC/Handelsblad, where he argued that anyone over
the age of 70 should have access to a pill that would
afford them control over their death.
In 2004, Exit Director Dr Philip Nitschke first made his own Peaceful Pill from chlorinated alcohol and Nictoine.
With testing problematic Exit has since come to the opinion that Exit members should have access to the best Peaceful Pill. The barbiturate Nembutal is the best Peaceful Pill.
It was Nembutal that was used in the Northern Territory during the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act in 1996-97. Nembutal is also used in Oregon USA where physician assisted dying is legal. Nancy Crick took Nembutal when she died peacefully in 2001.
In 2005, a group of elderly and seriously ill Exit members are coming together in rural Australia to make their own barbiturate-based Peaceful Pill. This project is known as The Peanut Project. 'Peanut' is an old-fashioned street term for 'barbiturate'.
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