A look at the sources of Nembutal
The sources of Nembutal online and over the counter clearly outlined by the Peaceful Pill Directory.
Getting a good source of Nembutal is everything to the terminally ill and elderly looking for a peaceful death. In most western countries there are now no medically prescribed barbiturate sleeping tablets. What remains in the public consciousness, however, is the belief that an overdose of sleeping tablets – any sleeping tablet – will cause death. This misconception leads to many failed suicide attempts as elderly or seriously ill people often stockpile, then take, large numbers of modem, non-lethal sleeping tablets.
Let us be clear. There is no point in asking your doctor for sleeping tablets if you plan to end your life. Tablets obtained this way will not be barbiturates and the drugs obtained will be unlikely, even in significant overdose, to cause death.
The commonest source of life-ending barbiturates in most western countries is the veterinary profession, and even this supply is likely to diminish in time. There is no legitimate or plausible reason for a vet to provide this drug to any member of the public. You can hardly tell your vet that you’re planning to operate on the cat this weekend!
Nembutal and Veterinarians
Vet stores are one of the best sources of Nembutal. Veterinary Nembutal has been used by vets to euthanize animals or as an anaesthetic in surgery for many decades. Before 1998. when Nembutal was still being prescribed by doctors, it may just have been possible to argue that your insomnia was so bad that only the rare and dangerous Nembutal could help you get a good night’s sleep. But there is simply no excuse one can give a vet to obtain this drug!
If a vet were ever to provide Nembutal knowing what the person has in mind – they could face a charge of assisting a suicide. De-registration and a prison term would be the likely consequence. In 2001 the Australian Veterinary Board became concerned about the increasing use of veterinary
Nembutal as a human euthanasia option and put out a warning to its members urging caution in the storage and use of the drug. (see Veterinary Surgeons Board, 2003).
Exit knows of only a handful of cases where seriously ill people have been able to obtain Nembutal from their Vet. When there is public mention of this possibility, the Veterinary Associations have reacted quickly denying the practice.
Moves to further restrict the use of veterinary Nembutal has meant that the anaesthetic form of the drug (see Fig 16.5) is becoming more difficult to obtain. This is the form of the drug favored by those wanting it for their own use, comforted by the fact that it comes in a clearly-labelled sterile sealed bottles.
The non-sterile green dyed form is more concentrated than its clear counterpart. Marketed as Valabarb (Fig 16.7) or Lethabarb (Fig 16.6) the concentration of this type of pentobarbital is 300mg/ml (five times higher than in the sterile anaesthetic form).
A single 30ml sample will contain 10gm of Nembutal and be lethal. This non-sterile green liquid needs to be decanted from a larger 500ml bottle. If drunk it can stain the lips and tongue.
With such staining it is unlikely that an attending doctor will cite natural causes on the death certificate.
A Case Study in Nembutal
When asked about Nembutal at Exit workshops, I tell people that it can be very handy to know a vet. Some time ago, I was making a clinic visit to the bedside of Harry, a dying patient.
With his wife at his side Harry asked me about ‘the best drugs’, the ones that would let him peacefully end his own life.
I explained that the “best” drug was Nembutal, but that this was only available from a vet. ‘How many vets do you know really well I asked, ‘ones that will risk jail helping you?” His silence answered my question, and we went on to talk about other more easily available, but less effective, drugs.
After the visit, I left the bedroom and had a cup of tea in the kitchen with Harry’s wife, Esme. Tentatively she said, ‘you know when you asked about knowing a vet?’ I looked at her, confused. She went on ‘well, I knew a vet, very well indeed.’ I waited, not knowing what was to follow. She continued. “In fact, some time back I had an affair with a vet. My husband knows nothing about it, and I want to keep it that way. But that vet owes me some bloody big favors and I’m going to call them in!’
A few weeks later, Harry died of his disease. I heard that Esme did indeed call in the favor, obtaining the 100ml bottle of liquid Nembutal. She told me that the bottle sat in the bedroom with Harry during his last weeks and that he drew immense comfort from knowing it was there. As he faced every new day, he was reassured by the knowledge that if the day became too difficult, he could leave at any time. Indeed, the presence of the drug prolonged Harry’s life.
The number of people who have a vet as their best friend, a friend prepared to risk jail for them is very small. There has only been a handful of occasions when I have seen help provided in this way, and Harry’s was one of them. Perhaps the question put to patients should be rephrased, perhaps I should be asking “have you ever had an affair with a vet?’ When I told this story at a recent public meeting, one elderly woman shouted back ‘I wish you’d told me that 40 years ago.’
Sources of Nembutal on the Black Market
There are very few sources of Nembutal on the black market. Exit receives occasional reports of people paying a very high price on the black market for Nembutal. Desperate for the drug, some have paid over $5000 for a single 100ml bottle of veterinary Nembutal. This same bottle would retail to a vet for less than $50. Despite the huge potential profit to a dealer, Nembutal is rarely found this way. The usual laws of supply and demand that govern the illegal drug trade do not apply, as no one will ever want more than one bottle of this drug. Supply chains do not therefore develop.
The Nembutal that does find its way on to the street is usually in the form of the sterile veterinary liquid. It is presumed that it is obtained when veterinary clinics are broken into by people looking for tradable veterinary steroids.
If the seal and labeling of a Nembutal bottle is intact and the expiry date not exceeded, the drug is likely to be effective.