Firstly, this compound was initially thought of as a euthanasia drug for wild swine. They were looking for a more humane way to poison wild pigs than the previously used warfarin, which caused the animal to bleed out from all orifices, and its easy to see why that was a concern. Finding this successful, and knowing that pigs and humans metabolisms are similar, the question becomes will this work for people?
I've done only limited research on this method, but the one difference in human and pig metabolism relative to this subject is an enzyme which converts SN to sodium nitrate in the body. Pigs have a very limited amount of this enzyme where humans have much more, therefore the human body turns the lethal chemical into a much more benign one much more rapidly. The question then becomes will this work for people and some case reports show fatalities so we know that in some circumstances and doses, yes it does work.
As for the maybe it's a good thing part... virtually all really successful, non violent methods for suicide were originally things used for other things. I'm reminded of the old gas ovens in the 1930's, which were quickly changed when folks realized people could die from these.... perhaps even, gasp, on purpose! We all know the do gooders and the pro lifers who lose their shit every time someone says "I want to have the decision to choose my fate." After all, that's what led most of us here.
Finally, as for the determining how successful this method is for self termination, we need data and like all other forms, that data is slow coming because we can't simply tell a trusted someone what we are doing (in the situation of an attempt to overdose on SN) and expect them to peacefully moniter and report findings. Most of us are fearful of telling anyone anything as we know how they will react. Personally, I see that as a hopeful sign. If there had been a rash of a couple thousand (or more likely even a couple hundred) suicides by SN poisoning in the past year, you can bet your ass there would already be attempts in the works to restrict the sale of it.
Call me an optimist if you like (about some things anyway), but I hope we are on the cusp of discovering a really cool, relatively reliable and safe way to determine our own fate that most of the world doesn't know about yet (a poor person peaceful pill...PPPP. as the author described on a FaceBook post I saw today).
I've done only limited research on this method, but the one difference in human and pig metabolism relative to this subject is an enzyme which converts SN to sodium nitrate in the body. Pigs have a very limited amount of this enzyme where humans have much more, therefore the human body turns the lethal chemical into a much more benign one much more rapidly. The question then becomes will this work for people and some case reports show fatalities so we know that in some circumstances and doses, yes it does work.
As for the maybe it's a good thing part... virtually all really successful, non violent methods for suicide were originally things used for other things. I'm reminded of the old gas ovens in the 1930's, which were quickly changed when folks realized people could die from these.... perhaps even, gasp, on purpose! We all know the do gooders and the pro lifers who lose their shit every time someone says "I want to have the decision to choose my fate." After all, that's what led most of us here.
Finally, as for the determining how successful this method is for self termination, we need data and like all other forms, that data is slow coming because we can't simply tell a trusted someone what we are doing (in the situation of an attempt to overdose on SN) and expect them to peacefully moniter and report findings. Most of us are fearful of telling anyone anything as we know how they will react. Personally, I see that as a hopeful sign. If there had been a rash of a couple thousand (or more likely even a couple hundred) suicides by SN poisoning in the past year, you can bet your ass there would already be attempts in the works to restrict the sale of it.
Call me an optimist if you like (about some things anyway), but I hope we are on the cusp of discovering a really cool, relatively reliable and safe way to determine our own fate that most of the world doesn't know about yet (a poor person peaceful pill...PPPP. as the author described on a FaceBook post I saw today).
