What this article isn’t mentioning is that these weren’t sent to random people like anthrax, it was likely purchased explicitly to commit suicide.
I learned that was even a thing the other week on Lemmy.
Death by sodium nitrate doesn’t sound pleasant. Ya’ll don’t sell the helium party balloon filling kits in Canada?
Most helium now has oxygen in it precisely to prevent this.
escMode also sold kits that had everything but inert gas, which is widely available legally.
So they take away the peaceful methods of checking out and then wonder why people choose firearms.
Most helium now has oxygen in it precisely to prevent this.
What a shitty thing to do! Inhaling an inert gas is apparently one of the least stressful ways to go, as CO2 buildup is what triggers the asphixiation response rather than the lack of oxygen.
I’m upset that they make it hard to commit suicide in a fairly bombproof painless way. Motherfuckers.
Why is this a crime, though? Would it be somehow better if those suicide victims had slashed their wrists instead?
That is pretty much how most legal regimes operate, yes. Then there are the ones that outright criminalize suicide.
Edit: as for why, it’s been shown in some studies that making access to methods difficult does reduce suicide. Cynically, maybe doing that keeps a workforce at better strength.
If serving people (and the wider society) were the priority among past and current legislators, we’d be doing what we can across the board to prevent people from falling into suicidal depression, instead of just trapping them in lives they feel are unbearable. It absolutely is about keeping the numbers of “workers” up, even if some are too depressed to work.
This isn’t exactly that though. While some places do criminalize attempts (ex. Fines if caught, punishments for surviving family), this is closer to criminalizing the act of assisting a suicide.
Which makes sense. If someone is having a mental health crisis and is on a bridge, and you egg them on, that would be punished.
There was this other case a few years ago: https://globalnews.ca/news/3645988/suicide-text-trial-sentencing/
Profiting from that process is even worse, it incentivizes trying to find people that could otherwise get support and instead profiting off their death.
Maybe there is some truth to the cynical take, but it doesn’t make much sense to me. Even if it was about maximizing worker output, a depressed suicidal worker is not going to be that productive.
Yes we need better mental health and social supports and yes we also need laws like this to prevent people from taking advantage of vulnerable people.
If it’s so bad…
used as a food additive and typically found in processed meats
GO AFTER THE DAMN COMPANIES ADDING THIS SHIT TO OUR FOOD
Once again, rules for thee but not for multi billionaires and their companies of destruction
You do realize that it is added in low quantities to cured meats to make them safer? Don’t believe it when the packaging says it is “Natural” or “No added Nitrites/Nitrates” either, that just means the producer used celery extract/juice instead which ends up as the exact same chemical.
It is one of the reasons why you should limit your ingestion of cured and highly processed meat products though.
The other guy explained it well
Cyanide isn’t really something you should be giving people but you can buy apples with seeds anyway
The chemical isn’t the problem, it’s the dose. For instance, people have died from drinking too much water.
Sodium nitrite is used in cured meats to prevent botulism. I use half a teaspoon for 10 pounds of meat when I make sausage. It’s safe enough, at least, safer than botulism. Those people ingested way more to kill themselves, fully aware of the consequences.
It’s a tool. Like any tool, it can be used to harm, like knives, hammers or ropes. If we had to outlaw everything that could kill us, we wouldn’t have much left … Including water.
Those people ingested way more to kill themselves, fully aware of the consequences.
No harm done then.
You know where they are also found? Fruits and vegetables. Damn you mother nature!
“The dose makes the poison”
The dose makes the poison. The packages sold are used in meat curing, as others have mentioned. Mix a bunch in water and drink it, and it cures your blood. Not a very nice way to go, but pretty certain.
Say “I don’t understand dosage” without using those words.
Oxygen is lethal in too high doses, FFS!
You know that it’s baking soda right ? A totally normal thing everyone has in their house. But too much of anything can be toxic. This in particular.
