Oregon bill targets 'suicide kit' sellers
Source: Agencies |
May 11, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
OREGON state senators voted to impose a crackdown on companies that sell so-called "suicide kits," which contain hoods or other items intended to help a person end his or her life.
They unanimously passed a bill on Monday proposed in response to the death of a 29-year-old Eugene man, Nick Klonoski, who killed himself using a suicide kit he ordered through the mail from a California company.
Kits like the one Klonoski used cost US$60 and contain a plastic bag that fits over the head, along with plastic tubing that can be attached to a tank of helium gas. They can be purchased by anyone at any time, without the consultation of a doctor.
Oregon is one of just a few states in US that allow doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives early in certain circumstances. But lawmakers said companies and individuals who provide suicide kits should be prosecuted because they lack safeguards and take advantage of the vulnerable.
"We want to send a message, to make it very clear, if you are in the business of marketing or selling suicide kits to people, you will be held accountable," Floyd Prozanski, a Eugene Democrat who sponsored the bill, said.
Klonoski, a graduate of South Eugene High School and the University of Michigan, was depressed from bouts of pain and fatigue, the newspaper Register-Guard of Eugene reported in March. He bought a "helium hood kit" from The Gladd Group of La Mesa and rented a helium tank from a local store. He used the kit and tank to end his life by helium asphyxiation in December.
They unanimously passed a bill on Monday proposed in response to the death of a 29-year-old Eugene man, Nick Klonoski, who killed himself using a suicide kit he ordered through the mail from a California company.
Kits like the one Klonoski used cost US$60 and contain a plastic bag that fits over the head, along with plastic tubing that can be attached to a tank of helium gas. They can be purchased by anyone at any time, without the consultation of a doctor.
Oregon is one of just a few states in US that allow doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives early in certain circumstances. But lawmakers said companies and individuals who provide suicide kits should be prosecuted because they lack safeguards and take advantage of the vulnerable.
"We want to send a message, to make it very clear, if you are in the business of marketing or selling suicide kits to people, you will be held accountable," Floyd Prozanski, a Eugene Democrat who sponsored the bill, said.
Klonoski, a graduate of South Eugene High School and the University of Michigan, was depressed from bouts of pain and fatigue, the newspaper Register-Guard of Eugene reported in March. He bought a "helium hood kit" from The Gladd Group of La Mesa and rented a helium tank from a local store. He used the kit and tank to end his life by helium asphyxiation in December.
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