‘Take immediate action. Stop selling it.’ Families of suicide victims target online sale of toxic chemical
They were supposed to be celebrating their daughter's 21st birthday.
Instead, the Ramirez family in Colorado got a knock on the door from an officer on May 3 who told them police in Canada arrested a suspect who they believe may be linked to the substance used by their daughter, Noelle Skyler Ramirez, who died by suicide by ingesting sodium nitrite earlier this year.
She received the substance from a business in Mississauga, according to her father, David Ramirez, who sent a picture of the shipping label to the Star.
It's just like a nightmare all over again," Ramirez said. I'm heartbroken, not only for ourselves, but for so many others.
Last week, Peel Regional Police charged Kenneth Law, of Mississauga, for allegedly selling the poisonous compound used by two Mississauga residents to die by suicide. They say their investigation now involves 1,200 packages allegedly sent to 40 countries. Families in the United States and the U.K. are now looking for answers about the sale of the chemical online.
Law, 57, who faces two counts of counselling or aiding suicide, appeared briefly in a Brampton court Wednesday where his case was adjourned to May 9. The charges against him have not yet been tested in court.
Those speaking out include the family of 17-year-old Anthony Jones, of Detroit, and the brother of Gary Cooper, 41, a British man who died last July after ingesting sodium nitrite.
They are now calling on major online retailers to pull the lethal sodium nitrite from stores.
Sodium nitrite is a preservative salt used in deli-meat preparation, where very small amounts are used to cure the meat and give it a reddish colour.
However the salt is lethal at larger, more pure concentrations and researchers in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., have warned about a recent increase in deaths by suicide involving sodium nitrite.
It is a very toxic poison," Lee Cooper said, adding that the action against Law is the first domino and I think there will be more to come because there are other sellers."
Cooper also wants police to probe a network of online forums which he says targets many vulnerable people like his brother, Gary, who struggled with depression. He said his brother accessed online forums where suicide is promoted and information about the means to carry it out is made readily available.
The widespread online availability of sodium nitrite has also placed the spotlight on E-commerce giants like Shopify and Amazon, which have served as a channel through which sellers of sodium nitrite can reach global buyers.
In a response to questions from the Star on Friday, Shopify, which has acknowledged that Law was once a merchant on its platform, stated that it takes concerns around the goods and services made available by merchants on its platform very seriously.
Once we were notified about a potential violation of our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), we immediately reviewed and took action to terminate all stores associated with Kenneth Law," a Shopify spokesperson wrote.
Several companies are believed to have been used by the suspect to allegedly sell the substance, including Imtime Cuisine, AmbuCa, Academic/ACademic, Escape Mode/escMode and ICemac, according to police.
Peel police and the Ontario Provincial Police warned residents to be wary of packages shipped from those businesses to individuals at-risk of self-harm" in communities across Ontario.
The ongoing investigation has found that packages may have been sent to more than a dozen communities across the province," the OPP said in a press release. Authorities are encouraging anyone who has received a package from any of the listed companies to contact their local authorities.
Carrie Goldberg, the New York lawyer representing the family of Jones, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder, said that after the teen boy died after ingesting sodium nitrite allegedly purchased from the Imtime Cuisine website last February, the family sent a message to an email address attached to an invoice, allegedly linked to the suspected Ontario supplier, to take immediate action to stop selling it."
The website for Imtime Cuisine, which was connected to a Mississauga PO box, is no longer active. An archive of the site, retrieved in January, instructed buyers of sodium nitrite that due to the potential self-injury of underage customers," any orders would require photo ID submitted to an email address appearing to belong to Law.
Goldberg's co-counsel Naomi Leeds said Jones yelled for his mother's assistance immediately after ingesting the toxin. A panicking Jones disclosed to his mother the package of sodium nitrite he had ingested, Leeds said.
He wanted to be saved," Leeds said, adding that emergency responders and hospital staff were unable to prescribe an antidote quickly enough to remedy the toxicity of the then-unknown chemical compound.
Goldberg's firm has now launched lawsuits against Amazon for six families who are claiming damages for negligence linked to the sale of sodium nitrite. These allegations have not been proven in court.
She's calling for online retailers like Amazon to pull the compound from all their digital shelves.
An Amazon spokesperson told the Star sodium nitrite is widely offered by retailers to preserve foods (such as meats and fish) and for use in laboratories as a reagent but unfortunately, like many products, it can be misused."
We have limited the sale of high concentrations of this product to Amazon Business customers," the spokesperson said. In marketplaces where Amazon Business is not yet available, we no longer sell high concentrations of this product in our stores."
Amazon has now globally restricted the sale of high concentrations of Sodium Nitrite to Amazon Business buyers. This policy came into effect on Oct. 20, 2022.
In the case of The Ramirez family, Noelle also had Asperger's Syndrome and experienced mental health challenges including anxiety, suicidal ideation and self-harm.
The family said they tried for years to get her help through different doctors and medications. Ramirez said Noelle ordered the package online and lied about its contents; she claimed she was getting a copy of a birth certificate to travel.
David Ramirez said he believes his daughter learned about the substance on an online forum where people discuss suicide.
I have nightmares that if this person wouldn't have been there, or she wouldn't have found that website, or if this chemical wouldn't be so easy to get, my daughter would still be here," Ramirez said.
There has got to be some control ... the easy access to these dangerous chemicals has to stop."
Ramirez said he wanted his daughter to be remembered for her intelligence and her generosity to others. Noelle had a passion for science, and had memorized the Periodic Table of Elements before she turned eight.
She was a wonderful, amazing person. She was incredibly smart. And she could have saved the world - nobody knows what she could done," Ramirez said.
If you are thinking of suicide or know someone who is, there is help. Resources are available online at www.crisisservicescanada.ca or you can connect to the national suicide prevention helpline at 1-833-456-4566, or the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868.
Jason Miller is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering crime and justice in the Peel Region. Reach him on email: jasonmiller@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @millermotionpic
Omar Mosleh is an Edmonton-based reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @OmarMosleh