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      Dosage:    ".. a few bites .. can cause serious poisoning or death".
      Time:      a few hours or more.
      Available: rare in most parts of UK, don't know about elsewhere.
      Certainty: good, but resembles wild carrot & wild parsnip.
      Notes:     [4]:
         The poison is strongest in the yellow juice of the underground parts.
         Symptoms after half an hour: burning of mouth, excessive saliva,
         flushing, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, dilation of pupils, and later a
         bluish tinge to the skin. Muscular contractions and convulsions, with
         difficulties in breathing are followed by unconsciousness and death,
         often within a few hours of eating the plant. See "plants in general".

   ==Coniine, Gamma-Coniceine, others (Hemlock, Conium Maculatum)
      Dosage:    unknown
      Time:      unknown
      Available: Grows throughout UK, except north. Don't know about elsewhere.
      Certainty: unknown
      Notes:     [4]:
         NOTE: There are many plants called "hemlock", some of which aren't
         poisonous at all. It can also be mistaken for wild parsley and carrot,
         and is in the same family as Cowbane.
         Symptoms appear in 15 mins to 2 hours. Initially burning and dryness
         of the mouth, muscular weakness leading to paralysis that affects the
         breathing. Sometimes also dilation of pupils, vomiting, diarrhoea,
         convulsions, and loss of consciousness. If this is survived, birth
         defects may be caused in pregnant women.
         This is said to be the plant that Socrates took in 399 BC.

   ==Oenanthetoxin (Hemlock Water Dropwort, Oenanthe Eroeata)
      Dosage:    "..dangerously poisonous, even in small quantities".
      Time:      Two to twelve hours.
      Available: Grows in chalky wet areas, particularly S and W Britain.
      Certainty: Fairly good, if you get the right species.
      Notes:     [4]:
         The tubers contain more poison than the rest of the plant,
         particularly in winter and early spring, and may be cooked or dried.
         Symptoms within an hour or two, nausea, salivation, vomiting,
         diarrhoea, sweating, weakness of legs, dilation of pupils. Later loss
         of consciousness with convulsions before death. See "plants in
         general" entry. Same family as Hemlock.

   ==plants in general (hemlock, foxglove, oleander)
      Dosage:    N/A
      Time:      N/A
      Available: garden centre
      Certainty: questionable
      Notes:     [1] says:
         "Everything I have ever read about death from plant poisoning
         indicates that it is risky and painful. Symptoms range from nausea and
         vomiting to cramping and bloody diarrhea. .... .. Altogether, I
         consider poisonous plants as a means of exit far too unreliable and
         painful. No matter how desperate you are, don't even think about it!"

   ==Nicotine (Rewritten by Calle)
      Dosage:    extract from 100g tabacco? 40-60 mg pure.
      Time:      Several hours, coma may set in much earlier. Much
		 quicker if taken in large doses.
      Available: Easily available
      Certainty: Fairly certain, given a large enough dose.
      Notes:     
         This is what Mike wrote:

	 "Soak 100 grammes of tabacco for a few days. You get a brown
         mess. Strain off the tabacco, then simmer slowly until most of the
         liquid has gone, leaving about 2 teaspoons of brown treacle-like
         stuff. Add it to your night-time drink, and never wake up. Someone
         said the other day that 150mg of pure nicotine would be fatal in
         seconds. See the "plants in general" entry."
	 
	 It is correct, as far as I have found out. It can be added
	 that the effects include violent convulsions and that the
	 direct cause of death is respiratory failure. Smokers should
	 use larger doses than non-smokers.

   ==Iron (diet suppliments)
      Dosage:    unknown
      Time:      unknown
      Available: diet, health food shops
      Certainty: good
      Notes:     [2]:
         "Well it seems that iron pills achieve death. They oxydize in the
         stomach and eat a hole in it. The only reason I know this is that
         someone at my school just recently OD'd and died from this. It was
         ruled suicide since no person could accidently take that many iron
         pills. They didn't say how many she took or how many it takes to kill
         yourself though." [sounds unpleasant]

   ==Cocaine
      Dosage:    1 ounce (don't know what that is in real weights..)
      Time:      2 to 3 hours?
      Available: Difficult
      Certainty: not known
      Notes:     Read something in a newspaper... a coke dealer died after
         eating an ounce of it, when the police raided his house. Cause of
         death was a cardiac arrest 2 1/2 hours after the overdose. However, a
         cocaine OD is painful, and causes paranoia / breathing problems. One
         form of cocaine smuggling is to swallow condoms filled with the stuff.
         From time to time, a "mule" has a condom burst inside him, and dies in
         pain reasonably quickly.

   ==LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) nonfatal
      Dosage:    infinite!
      Time:      never
      Available: who cares?
      Certainty: will not kill you
      Notes:     LSD can't kill you by overdose.. you might go psychotic if you
         take tens/hundreds of thousands of times the normal dose, but thats
         hardly surprising, since you'd have to be insane to take that much in
         the first place. General warning - even for normal use, if you are
         depressed, it'll just amplify the depression, not lift it, and the
         chances of a bad trip are probably higher. Probably, the only way to
         kill yourself with this stuff is to drop two tonnes of it on yourself.

      Calle: I don't quite believe in what Mike is saying about
	     psychosis here. As far as I have been able to find out,
	     LSD works by catalyzing certain substances in the brain,
	     and thus vast overdoses have no more effect than merely
	     large ones. Once all the stuff in your brain is used up,
	     there will be no more effect.

	     A correspondent points out a case reported by The Journal
	     of Clinical Toxicology where eight people snorted pure
	     LSD Tartrate, beliving that it was cocaine. The amounts
	     ingested was estimated to be from 1000 to 10000 times an
	     ordinary dose. Half of them lapsed into comas, but all of
	     them came out of it without any treatment. Some were
	     given Valium for anxiety efterwards.

	     On the whole, it seems that LSD is about as safe as a
	     drug can be, despite much propaganda saying otherwise.

   ==Heroin (morphine)
      Dosage:    120 to 500 mg in non-users.
      Time:      unknown
      Available: From your friendly neighbourhood drug dealer.
      Certainty: unknown
      Notes:     Combine it with alcohol, since a combination of alc & H is
         much more dangerous than alc or H alone.

   ==Rotenone
      Dosage:    very low, similar to cyanide
      Time:      depends on dosage
      Available: extremely difficult
      Certainty: probable
      Notes:     Rotenone is used by microbiologists to kill potentially
         dangerous bacteria cultures. It is extremely poisonous.

   Calle: A correspondent believes this entry to be erroneous, since
	  in the litterature he consulted rotenone was mentioned as
	  being used as an insecticide and not being all that toxic. 

   ==Mercury (salts, soluble)
      Dosage:    1 gramme of salts
      Time:      unknown
      Available: unknown (what are the _soluble_ salts? how to make?)
      Certainty: good
      Notes:     Note that contrary to popular opinion, pure mercury metal isn't
         all that poisonous. The soluble salts are, however. The "mad hatter"
         story refers to brain damage that hat makers used to get from using
         mercury salts.

   ==Amobarbital (amytal, amal, eunoctal, etamyl, stadadorm)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    4.5 grammes, typically 90 50mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable
      Notes:     use an airtight plastic bag, and a rubber band to get a very
         effective method. Alcohol speeds it up and makes it more reliable.
         Take an antihistamine about 10 minutes earlier. Empty stomach.
         Dissolve most of them in drink / food, and eat the remaining ones
         first so that it all peaks at the same time.


   ==Butabarbital (secbutobarbitone, butisol, ethnor)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    3 grammes, typically 100 30mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach.


   ==Codeine (combo. with Aspirin: Empirin compound no. I -> IV)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    2.4 grammes, typically 80 30mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Diazepam (valium, apozepam, aliseum, ducene)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    500 milligrammes, typically 100 5mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else (alcohol?)
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. Valium is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes it more certain.


   ==Flurazepam (dalmane, dalmadorm, niotal)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    3 grammes, typically 100 30mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with other
         drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Gluthethimide (doriden, doridene, glimid)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    24 grammes, typically 48 500mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with other
         drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Chloral Hydrate (noctec, chloratex, somnox)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    >10+ grammes, typically 20+ 500mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Hydromorphone (dilaudid, pentagone)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    100 -> 200 milligrammes, typically 50 -> 100 2mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Meprobamate (miltown, equanil)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    45 grammes, typically 112 400mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Methyprylon (noludar)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    15 grammes, typically 50 300mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Meperidine (pethidine, demerol, dolantin)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    3.6 grammes, typically 72 50mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Methadone (dolophine, adanon)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    300 milligrammes, typically 60 5mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Morphine (in Brompton's mixtures)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    200 milligrammes, typically 14 15mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. People can become tolerant to this drug, and it will no
         longer be effective.


   ==Phenobarbital (luminal, gardenal, fenical)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    4.5 grammes, typically 150 30mg tablets
      Time:      N/A
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: unreliable, use in combination with something else
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. This is not effective by itself, but by mixing it with
         other drugs or alcohol it makes the other drug more certain.


   ==Secobarbital (quinalbarbitone, seconal, immenox, dormona, secogen, .....
   == ..... seral, vesperax (combo with brallobarbital))
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    4.5 grammes, typically 45 100mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach. [Vesperax is Humphry's favorite]


   ==Propoxyphene (darvon, dolotard, abalgin, antalvic, depronal)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    2 grammes, typically 30 65mg tablets
      Time:      death in an hour or so. Does not make you unconscious
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: suggest combine with something to make you sleep, then use bag
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach.  Since this one doesn't make you unconscious for a
         long time, try combining with one that does, so you can use
         the good old bag method.


   ==Pentobarbital (nembutal, carbrital only if in combo with pentobarbital)
      [this entry from [1]]
      Dosage:    3 grammes, typically 30 100mg tablets
      Time:      unconscious in 5 -> 15 minutes, death in 20 -> 50 minutes
      Available: needs to be prescribed
      Certainty: very reliable with plastic bag and rubber band
      Notes:     use bag & band. Alcohol as well as antihistamine on an empty
         stomach.

==PART3== Methods: other than poisoning

==2. HANGING
   ==1. asphyxiation (dangle on end of rope for 10 minutes)
      Time:      5 to 10 minutes
      Available: Rope, solid support 10 foot above ground
      Certainty: Fairly certain (discovery, rope/support snapping)
      Notes:     Brain damage likely if rescued. Very painful depending on
         rope. Most common effective form of suicide in UK. See "Asphyxiation".

   ==2. breaking neck
      Time:      Should be instant if it does break. See previous if not
      Available: Rope, solid support, 10 foot space below, several above
      Certainty: Very certain if the rope/support doesn't break
      Notes:     Minimal danger of discovery (depends on location). Painless
         if you drop far enough (8 foot is optimum). Make sure that the rope
         is tied securely to something STRONG!! It has to support your weight
         MULTIPLIED by the deccelleration. Use a hangman's knot (with the knot
         at the back of your neck). It doesn't always work this well though,
         you might get a bust jaw / lacerations etc and then asphyxiate.
	 
      Calle: I got this table of appropriate falling heights from
	     a.s.h. long-time regular MegaZone (megazone@wpi.wpi.edu),
	     who got it from a friend of his named Mark.

	     Hanging Drop Heights...

	Culprits Weight			Drop
	14   stone (196 lbs)		8ft 0in
	13.5 stone (189 lbs)		8ft 2in
	13   stone (182 lbs)		8ft 4in
	12.5 stone (175 lbs)		8ft 6in
	12   stone (168 lbs)		8ft 8in
	11.5 stone (161 lbs)		8ft 10in
	11   stone (154 lbs)		9ft 0in
	10.5 stone (147 lbs)		9ft 2in
	10   stone (140 lbs)		9ft 4in
	9.5  stone (133 lbs)		9ft 6in
	9    stone (126 lbs)		9ft 8in
	8.5  stone (119 lbs)		9ft 10in
	8    stone (112 lbs)		10ft 0in

	Source: Charles Duff, Handbook of Hanging (Boston: Hale,
	Cushman & Flint	1929)

	Notes: This is for person of average build with no unusual
	physical problems.  The Author (James "Hangman" Barry) noted
	that when executing "persons who had attempted suicide by
	cutting their throats...to prevent reoping the wounds I have
	reduced the drop by nearly half."



==3. JUMPING OFF BUILDINGS
   Time:      Instantanious if you are lucky, minutes/hours otherwise
   Available: You need ten stories or higher, and access to the top floor
              windows/roof. Bring a bolt cutter to get onto the roof
   Certainty: 90% for 6 stories, increasing after that
   Notes:     Difficult to overcome fear of heights, many people can't do it.
      Totally painless if high enough, but very frightening. Easily discovered
      if seen on/near roof/windows. Access fairly easy in a city, otherwise
      difficult. Risk of spending the rest of your life in a wheelchair. Ever
      tried killing yourself if you are paralysed from the neck down? Email
      conversations suggest 10+ stories works ALMOST all of the time. Try to
      land on concrete. Quote - "9 out of 10 people who fall 6 stories will
      die". Note that it may take a while for many of those 90% to die.

==4. SLITTING WRISTS OR OTHER (often not effective)
   Time:      Minutes if major artery cut, eternity otherwise.
   Available: You really need a razor sharp knife. Razors are pretty tricky
              to hold when they are covered with blood.
   Certainty: possible if you cut an artery, improbable otherwise
   Notes:     Painful at first. Danger of discovery. This is a very common
      suicide 'gesture' and hardly ever results in anything other than a scar.
      A lot of will power required to cut deeply into groin or carotid
      arteries, which are the only ones likely to kill you. Don't bother with
      this method. Cutting your throat is difficult due to the fact that the
      carotid arteries are protected by your windpipe (feel where your arteries
      are with your fingertips, & slice from the side). I've seen photos of
      people who have used this method - the depth of the cut required is
      amazing. If you want to cut your wrists, cut along the blue line (vein)
      on the underside of your wrist, but cut deeply so that the artery
      underneath is exposed. Cut this lengthways with a razor or similar. The
      traditional hot bath does help, since it keeps the blood flowing quickly,
      slows down clotting, and is nice to lie back and relax in. Position
      yourself so that your wrists don't fall inwards against your body,
      blocking off blood flow.

      Calle: A posting to A.S.H. suggests using the kind of equipment
	     they use when you give blood to a blood bank, i.e., a
	     needle in a blood vessel and a piece of tubing. It sounds
	     like it would remove several of the disadvantages of the
	     ordinary slitting-wrists method.

==5. BULLET
   Time:      Microseconds unless you are unlucky (mins/hours)
   Available: Difficult in UK, easier in USA (get a shotgun)
   Certainty: Certain
   Notes:     Painless if worked, otherwise painful & brain damage.
      Danger of discovery of weapon or ammunition. Not at all common in UK,
      more common in USA where guns available. Brain damage & other effects if
      you survive. Death either instantaneous, or prolonged. Lots of will power
      needed to fire gun ('hesitation marks' are bullets/pellets embedded in
      the wall, when you jerk the gun as you fire). Bullet can miss vital parts
      in skull, deflect off skull. If you have a choice, use a shotgun rather
      than a rifle of a pistol, since it is so much more effective. ("shotgun"
      entry later). Ammunition to use is: .458 Winchester Magnum, or soft-point
      slugs with .44 Magnum. Also you could use a sabot round, which is a
      plastic wedge with a smaller thing in it. These rounds are rather
      overkill, the phrase "elephant gun" has been used about the .458
      Winchester, but if you're going to go, do it with a bang. Note, people
      usually survive single .22 shots to the temples. The other problem with
      guns is that is is bloody messy. Your next of kin will really _enjoy_
      cleaning up after you, washing the coagulated blood & brains out of
      corners etc...

==6. ASPHYXIATION
   Time:      5 mins to unconciousness, 10+ mins to brain death
   Available: Anywhere there's a rope and something solid to tie it to
   Certainty: Certain, if you don't get "rescued"
   Notes:     Panic reaction is very likely (unless inert gasses used).
      One of the most effective and most used methods of suicide.
      Probable brain damage if you are "rescued".
      NOTE, this can only really be done in two ways: firstly,
      when you are unconsious (eg, sleeping pills), or secondly,
      by hanging. Combining with pure inert gasses is a very good
      suggestion. See "Nitrogen" in the poisons section

==7. AIR IN VEINS (basically just a myth)
   Time:      Couple of minutes claimed
   Available: Plenty of air about... Need a hypodermic & syringe
   Certainty: only 1 known case.. patient may already have been dead
   Notes:     The only case I know about, it killed with 40cc of air. Smaller
      amounts are harmless. The case was the death of Abbie Borroto,
      who died in 1950 from a 40cc injection in New Hampshire. She
      died in minutes. This was the 1949 Dr H Sander case. He was
      found not guilty to murder on the grounds that the patient may
      already have been dead when he gave the injection. (A doctor and
      a nurse could find no pulse earlier the same day).
      The following 2 quotes are from [1]:
      Prof. Y Kenis says: "... not a suitable method, nor a gentle
      death... extremely difficult to utilize as a method of suicide.
      .. possibly with very serious consequences, such as paralysis or
      permanent brain damage. .. this is only an impression, and I have
      no real scientific information on the subject."
      Dr Pieter V Admiraal .. describes the theoretical air bubble
      method of suicide as impossible, disagreeable and cruel. "To
      kill somebody with air you would have to inject at least 100 ->
      200 millilitres as quickly as possible in a vein as big as
      possible close to the heart. You would have to fill the whole
      heart with air at once. The heart would probably beat on for
      several minutes, perhaps 5 -> 15 minutes, and during the first
      minutes the person may be conscious."

==8. DECAPITATION
   Time:      Couple of seconds before conciousness fades
   Available: Happen to have a train line nearby? Or a guillotine perhaps?
   Certainty: Very certain, unless you pull away just before
   Notes:     See "jumping in front of trains". May be difficult to stop
      pulling your head out of the way - OD on sleeping tablets
      first

   Calle: A news notice from California posted to alt.suicide.holiday
	  tells the story of a man who comitted suicide nearly cut his
	  own head off with a chainsaw. Sounds like a grisly way to do it. 

==9. DISEMBOWELMENT (aka seppuku/hara kiri)
   Time:      Minutes
   Available: Got a nice razor-sharp sword?
   Certainty: Fairly certain, assuming that you managed to gut yourself
              properly before passing out with the agony
   Notes:     Painful, even the macho Samurai used a 'second' to decapitate them
      at the appropriate point, so don't expect to do much more than
      give yourself peritonitis. Trendy for insane martial arts
      fanatics and gay Japanese poets called Mishima.

==10. DROWNING
   Time:      Minutes (5 mins to die of drowning, 20 to die of hypothermia)
   Available: Anywhere there's deep, (cold) water in a remote spot
   Certainty: Good, just make sure you sink & can't swim
   Notes:     Put stones in your pockets, tie your legs & hands together,
      and hop into the lake.. bit of a shock to the fisherman who
      finds your rotting corpse stuck in his brand new net. Also see
      entry for "hypothermia/freezing".  However, remember that you can be
      revived from cold water drowning after several hours, because the cold
      slows down terminal brain damage. Warmer water doesn't have the advantage
      of hypothermia, but is more effective in making sure you *stay* dead.

==11. ELECTROCUTION
   Time:      Seconds / minutes
   Available: Anywhere with high-tension, high-current lines & a good earth
   Certainty: Somewhat dependant on luck & how much power goes through you
   Notes:     Don't bother with 110 or 240 volt mains, its just not enough.
      Some people do get killed with household electricity, but only
      after several minutes. Use high tension lines, stand in bare
      feet on waterlogged ground (better still, put a piece of THICK
      copper cable into the nearest river). Works best if current
      path travels through your head, or through the heart. Just
      burns you badly otherwise.
      NOTE: people have survived massive high-voltage, high-current
      shocks with nothing but 3rd degree burns to show for it.
      Sometimes paralysis, limbs amputated etc.

==12. EXPLOSIVES
   Time:      10 milliseconds, or similar (!)
   Available: Difficult to get hold of detonator & good explosives
   Certainty: Certain if detonator works properly
   Notes:     DON'T USE GUNPOWDER or other 'slow' explosives (eg,
      homemade explosives). Use dynamite or 'Plastique', strap
      it to your forehead with the detonator, and BOOM! The main
      problem is with getting hold of high explosives (I know the
      recipe for Nitro-Glycerine, but home manufacture is extremely
      risky, and the product is unstable). If you can get a grenade,
      use it, it's probably the best way of doing this one.

   Calle: Recipies for creating explosives can be found, together with
	  the appropriate warnings, in the rec.pyrotechnics FAQ.

==13. FREEZING TO DEATH (hypothermia)
   Time:      several hours (15 minutes in very cold water)
   Available: Got a large chest freezer? Is the outside temp < -10 degrees?
   Certainty: good if you don't get found
   Notes:     Soak your cloths in water, get into freezer / outside
      somewhere where you won't be found. Helps to get pissed
      first - drink yourself silly. If you are near a very
      cold supply of water (eg, the North Sea, or similar) which is
      close to zero degrees, this is particularly good, since the
      average lifespan of someone in the water is 15 minutes.
      [1] says: ".. have quietly ascended their favorite mountain late
      in the day .. above the freezing line.. wearing light clothing,
      they sat down in a secluded spot to await the end. Some have said
      that they intended to take a tranquilizer to hasten the sleep of
      death. From what we know of hypothermia, they would pass out as
      the cold reached a certain level and they would die within a few
      hours. Of course in a very cold climate there is no need to climb
      a mountain." [eg, UK in midwinter :-). There was a death in the
      middle of the city park here just this last winter ('90) where a
      lady stripped after the park closed for the night.]  A problem with
      this method is that because it slows the metabolism, and prevents
      damage to the brain, people can be revived several hours after 'death'
      occasionally.

==14. JUMPING IN FRONT OF TRAINS
   Time:      Seconds (or hours if unlucky)
   Available: Anywhere near a HIGH-SPEED railway line
   Certainty: Depends on your timing & speed of train. Go for decapitation
   Notes:     Probably better to put your neck on the line, since a glancing
      blow would probably break your spine (& cripple you). High
      speed trains need a kilometer to stop, so find a blind corner.

==15. SELF-IMMOLATION
   Time:      Seconds to days
   Available: Anywhere you can get petrol & a match
   Certainty: good as long as you are far away from medical help
   Notes:     bloody painful - one of the most agonising ways to die.
      If you do survive, you will be disfigured for the rest
      of your life.
      Try mixing the petrol with an explosive like TNT or NG,
      this will make it burn MUCH quicker, even if the explosive
      is very dilute.

==16. STARVING TO DEATH
   Time:      40 days give or take. Depends on health.
   Available: Anywhere where you can't be force-fed
   Certainty: Good as long as no medical help & will power holds up
   Notes:     Supposed to be easier after the first couple of days, since
      your appetite goes. In a UK prison, you can't be force-fed
      unless you give permission first, or are diagnosed insane,
      but I don't know whether this is the same in other countries.
      Beware - relatives might give permission on your behalf if you
      are unconsious. (living will / durable power of attorney helps).
      It may help if you use an appetite suppressant. Amphetamines,
      and some drugs (MDMA, AKA XTC, AKA ecstasy, AKA
      metheylenedimethoxymethamphetamine is one such). The problem with
      these is that they are frequently illegal. I've also heard of
      something called Aminorex (4-methylaminorex) which was briefly
      prescribed as an appetite suppressant, but taken off the market
      since it had fatal side effects... which is hardly a problem!!
      [1] says:
      ".. after approximately 20 % of body weight loss, illness will
      begin to set in, notably severe indigestion, muscle weakness, and
      _worst of all_ mental incapacity. ... about 40 days before life
      is seriously theatened.    ...."
      "In some cases self-starvation can be very painful. ... morphene

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