DrugBuyers.Com: Suicide Device Confiscated

Friday, January 10, 2003

Dr. Philip Nitschke was to unveil his suicide device at a meeting in California, but customs officials seized the machine in Australia.

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Customs officials stripped Australia's leading euthanasia advocate of his latest assisted suicide device while the doctor was en route to the United States Thursday.

Dr. Philip Nitschke was traveling to San Diego, California, to display his machine to a conference of The Hemlock Society, a volunteer euthanasia group. The conference began Thursday and ends Sunday.

"He's unfortunately not going to be unveiling it. It was confiscated by Australian Customs at Sydney Airport," said Paul Spier, vice chair of the Hemlock Society, in an interview with CNN's Frank Buckley on Thursday.

Nitschke has helped several terminally ill people end their lives in Australia and New Zealand, and developed a plastic bag called an "Exit Bag," which can be used to commit suicide.

His latest device delivers pure carbon monoxide, which is inhaled to hasten death.

"It's essentially a re-breather system. It's just a way of mixing chemicals so that they can be introduced by the same kind of mask that you might use in a surgical procedure," Spier said.

Nitschke is expected to go ahead with his presentation at the conference this Sunday, on paper, without his device.

The Hemlock Society, founded in 1980 by Derek Humphry, is a group that supports choice and dignity at the end of life, according to its Web site.

The group says it has 30,000 members in about 70 chapters and community groups around the country.