Given how prevalent suicide is as a global cause of death, you might think we should be talking about it more. There’s a reason we don’t do it. When suicides are reported in the media, others follow – in short, it is a contagion. As such, major media outlets have very strict rules about how they cover cases. This is responsible journalism.
The flip side of these well-intentioned, sensible regulations is that a problem affecting a significant portion of the population gets pushed aside, swept under the rug and, as a result, stigmatized. There is an inherent loneliness in being suicidal that makes it seem like no one can help. Talking about “catching the bus” – a term used by those affected to describe the act – still seems taboo, and so turning to an online suicide forum may seem appropriate. But if that platform also gives a vulnerable person the means to end their life, is anyone to blame?
It is from that perspective that the C.B.C. Search for suicidal salesmanHosted by veteran reporter Damon Fairless, arrives.
Disclaimer: Keep all this in mind before listening Search for suicidal salesman Or when reading this review, please keep in mind that both deal with the themes of suicide in great detail. If you are struggling with your mental health, you can contact SamariaTalk to a friend or family member, or call emergency services in your area of residence.
In the first episode we meet Joe Nihill’s mother and sister-in-law, Katherine and Melanie. Who died in 2020 after being intentionally exposed to a very pure dose of sodium nitrite. Both women learned that Joe frequented an online suicide forum, where members support each other in attempts to end their lives. In his final notes to them, Joe asked to be removed from the platform, and Katherine and Melanie have since dedicated themselves to achieving his wish.
Through this controversial platform, the story introduces us to other bereaved families who have lost loved ones – namely young men – to suicide caused by sodium nitrite.
In episode two, this narrative thread leads Fairless to the case of Kenneth Law, a Canadian man who runs an online business and sells lethal amounts of sodium nitrite to intentionally suicidal customers. Fairless follows Law from the UK to Canada, tracing Law’s life through his turbulent career, post-Covid money troubles and ultimately his successful “business” selling purported suicide aids on the internet. It’s a wild and perilous chase that reminds us of the recent BBC podcast series World of Secrets: The Darkest Web.
According to podcast network CBC, although Law has been implicated in approximately 145 deaths in 41 countries, sent over 1,200 shipments, and is considered by many to be a mass murderer, he has never actually killed anyone one-on-one. This puts his case into uncharted territory.
Without spoiling how Law’s lawsuit ended, that he also faced charges means he faced a significantly higher penalty than Amazon. The website is alleged to have helped sell many more doses of the deadly drug, despite many unhappy parents begging them to remove it from their website (which they eventually did, after 18 months). In a podcast that is disturbing by its very nature, Episode 4’s fight to stop a corporate giant from selling suicidal drugs is the most depressing installment of them all.
The way these big legal cases are balanced with the tragic stories of individuals is a big part of Search for suicidal salesman Very attractive. But it’s still one of the toughest listeners this year.
Much of our distress stems from the testimony of those who use the platform. It’s easy to understand how, in the lonely mind of someone suicidal, being able to talk online to others struggling with the same illness can provide potentially life-saving comfort. As one user writes, “Still hanging in there because people like me exist.”
But does this negate the fact that this platform also has the potential to push people teetering on the brink of the abyss over the edge? Fairless accepts both views at the same time without judgment. His approach is consistently impressive and his hesitation to give quick answers extends to matters of law. The complexity is further compounded when another bereaved mother expresses doubt over Law’s level of culpability, saying, “You can just go to the store and buy pills and get a gun”. In other words: The law doesn’t blame those store owners any more.
At the end of the series, a woman named Joe expresses hope that Law will be convicted as she doubts he would have made his attempt without him. When we heard from him, Fairless tragically revealed that he had made a fatal attempt after that interview.
There is no simple answer to the question of suicide, and Search for suicidal salesman It never patronizes the listener by pretending like this.
If there is any conclusion to be drawn here, it is the research that indicates that people often attempt suicide on impulse, and if they can wait out that impulse, they are less likely to try again. However, as the show admits, there are no guarantees. Fairless cites several cases where the number of suicides has dropped significantly in areas where barriers have been erected at jumping hotspots. He believes that Law’s major moral crime was the figurative dismantling of a major barrier between his desperate consumers and their tragic, unnecessary end.
Does this make “Suicide Salesman” a murderer?
Talking about suicide is a hard thing. Fairless and his sensitive, thought-provoking podcast make a solid case that it’s still extremely worthwhile.
