A BOOK that gives detailed advice on suicide, including a recipe for cyanide, has been cleared for publication in Australia.
Author Dr Philip Nitschke has now ordered a print run in Australia after the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s board voted to allow the book to be sold in book stores wrapped in plastic as a category-one publication only for those over 18.
The book, called The Peaceful Pill Handbook, offers advice and suicide tips, describing in detail a variety of suicide methods.
Approval of the book has been condemned as promoting suicide as a viable choice not just for the sick and elderly but also for troubled adolescents.
Co-written by Dr Nitschke and Fiona Stewart, the book describes how to clean up after a suicide and remove evidence. He said he now planned for the book to be in stores by next month.
The decision to allow the book to be sold under the category-one classification was made despite objections of some board members who believed it should be banned under the anti-suicide-promotion laws.
