At least 172 people died from taking suicide powder drug X

The average age of people who end their lives with this drug is 59. Researcher Lizanne Schweren: “These figures show that it is a very diverse group with people from all age categories, and that the group does not only consist of elderly people who make a well-considered choice to make.”

In September 2017, Coöperatie Laatste Wil (CLW) presented drug X in the TV program News hour as a “readily available, cheap and humane substance” with which one can end one’s own life. CLW focuses on elderly people who consider their lives complete and want to decide their own end of life.

Seventy percent of drug X users have a “psychiatric history”

In the major lawsuit in Arnhem that will continue on Thursday, seven members and (former) directors of the cooperative will be prosecuted. They are suspected of forming a partnership with the aim of assisted suicide. Some provided the suicide drug directly to interested parties. A prison sentence of thirty months was demanded against them on Monday. During the trial it turned out that the powder also ended up in the hands of a 34-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man who were in psychological distress and were receiving treatment. The report from 113 and the GGD Amsterdam shows that they are no exception.

Nearly a quarter of all deaths since 2015 were between 30 and 49 years old. Nearly a third were between 50 and 69 years old. The largest group – almost forty percent – ​​was over 70.

It is unknown exactly what “psychiatric history” people who died from drug X had. Forensic doctors are not obliged to register this; the information was extracted by the researchers from an “optional free text field”. The researchers also found that the forensic doctor reported that euthanasia had been requested in 33 cases. 21 of them had their applications rejected.

Between 2017 and 2021, the number of people who died from suicide with drug X increased every year. From a few cases in 2017 to 40 in 2020 and 50 in 2021. In 2022 there were 42. According to 113, this could be related to the criminal investigation that started that year into various possible providers of drug X. That year there were also more reports about people who died from the drug in a nasty, inhumane way.

Possibly more cases

The study of 113 was conducted on the basis of the registration of forensic doctors from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2022. Data from 23 of the 25 GGD regions in the Netherlands were used. It is likely that in reality there were more suicides with substance It is also possible that a forensic doctor has registered a suicide as “self-poisoning”, without specifying this further.

Drug X was used in 3.6 percent of all suicides in 2021, the study shows. In 2022 that was 2.4 percent. Because the numbers involved are small, researchers cannot say anything about the possible impact on the total number of suicides, nor whether this method is used instead of other methods.

113 sees these research results as the beginning of more extensive research. The organization would like to talk to relatives about the history of people who have died by suicide, and calls on them to report.

The research was completed in January, but 113 is only now releasing the figures. “Communicating about suicide methods carries the risk of copying behavior,” says researcher Schweren, which is why 113 initially only distributed the research results to direct stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS). “In the reporting about the process surrounding drug X, we saw that it was assumed that there were no figures. That is not right and we wanted to correct that.”

You can talk about suicide for free, anonymously and 24/7 at the national helpline 113 Suicide Prevention. Telephone: 0800-0113. Or chat at www.113.nl.

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