(WatchDogReport.org) – A 30-year-old man from the Netherlands, identified as Alex S., has been convicted of selling a suicide drug and the instructions for use, resulting in the death of at least ten people. It’s believed that over 1600 people bought this drug from Alex S. Authorities state that he originally purchased it for his own use.
The Netherlands adopted a right-to-die or euthanasia policy in 2002. According to this policy, there are circumstances in which people legally qualify to have a doctor prescribe drugs to painlessly end their life. The patient can administer the substance themselves, or the doctor may aid them. Assisted suicide, however, is still illegal.
Assisted suicide is considered different from euthanasia. With this method, the patient is helped to end their life by someone who is not a doctor, and the legal requirements for euthanasia have not been met.
Alex S. also misled his customers, claiming this drug offered a calm and painless death. Authorities have information from witnesses that this claim is false, and the substance can cause panic, and patients may become distressed as they die.
People of the Netherlands have debated the rights surrounding the chosen end to one’s life since the law was passed in 2002. Many believe the law is too strict and that everyone should have the right to end their life whenever they choose, not just those qualifying for legal euthanasia.
Alex S. was sentenced to three and a half years in prison with eighteen months of the sentence suspended, which means he won’t have to serve that time unless he commits the same offenses again.
The Court upheld and defended the country’s right-to-die policy and claimed that Alex S. took the law into his own hands, devalued human life, and undermined the regulations surrounding the issue because he believed the law to be too strict.
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