KEY POINTS:
A controversial how-to manual on suicide has been banned.
The Peaceful Pill Handbook, written by Australian euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke, was given an "objectionable" rating by the Office of Film and Literature Classification.
Censor Bill Hastings said the "well-intentioned" book was banned because it instructed people in criminal activity.
"These parts of the book instruct in how to smuggle and manufacture Class C controlled drugs, how to manufacture and use cyanide, and how to conceal one's involvement with the commission of a suicide," the censor said.
If that material had not been in the book, it probably wouldn't have been banned, Mr Hastings said.
The censor had no problem with most of the book, which advocates law reform and gives advice to help the ill and elderly reach informed decisions about their own lives and deaths.
It also gives various "end of life" options, including Nembutal, helium, carbon monoxide, cyanide and a DIY "peaceful pill".
Nitschke said he would rework his book and push on to make it available in New Zealand book shops.
"I realise ... Mr Hastings must have been under incredible political pressure when delivering his ruling," he said.
The man some call "Doctor Death" delivered a copy of the book in person to the censor in February, when he was in New Zealand presenting a seminar on suicide options.
The book was banned in Australia in December but Penthouse magazine printed excerpts of the book in this month's edition.
It is also available through Amazon.com, where it has a five-star rating.
- NZPA
