A Pot Company's Google Ad Led Police to a Suicidal Man

Earlier this week, a man from the Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood called ​MMC Depot, a Colorado-based medical marijuana packaging wholesaler, looking for an exit bag. But he wasn't searching for a safe way to store his legal pot. Instead, he wanted to end his life.

An "exit bag" in the world of medical marijuana refers to a ​child-proof locking bag, and the state of Colorado requires that dispensaries sell their wares in them. In the darker corners of in the internet, however, the term refers to a suicide device also known as a helium hood.

Helium hoods consist of a plastic bag secured around the neck, with an inserted tube that fills the space with helium. Instructions and kits are sold online, and to many, ​they are a ready-at-hand way to end their suffering.

When the man, whose identity could not be obtained, called MMC Depot, it wasn't immediately clear that he was attempting to procure the means to end his own life but it soon became apparent that something was wrong.

"The question was vague: 'Do you carry exit bags?' We told him we do carry exit bags," Dovid Zussman, MMC Depot's general manager, told me. "The guy asked the price, and we told him. He seemed somewhat surprised by the price. My guess is that the exit bags he was looking for are priced quite higher."

"The conversation continued, and it became evident to the salesperson who answered the call—who was a little bit baffled—that the man was looking for something else," Zussman continued. "He stated that he was looking for an exit bag for suicide."

MMC Depot's exit bags retail for $1.90. While buying a helium hood kit online is extremely difficult, DVD instructions on how to build ​helium hoods sold by finalexit.org cost $20. Disposable helium tanks—the kind you fill party balloons with—are a requirement of the system, and ​can be purchased for as little as $32 from Amazon.

What appears to be a transcript of the conversation between the unknown man and the MMC salesperson was posted on the blog of David Melamed, who handles MMC Depot's online advertising:

Caller: Do you sell exit bags? 

Salesperson: Yes. 

Caller: How much are exit bags? 

Salesperson: $1.90 

Caller: For suicide? 

Salesperson: Huh? 

Caller: You do sell exit bags, correct? 

Salesperson: Yes. 

Caller: How much are they? 

Salesperson: $1.90 

Caller: These exit bags are for suicide, right? 

Salesperson: Huh? 

Caller: *Hangs up*

The unknown Lincolnwood man's skittish reaction is understandable, as buying and selling helium hoods online is an extremely controversial practice.

In 2011,​the FBI raided the home of Sharlotte Hydorn, a 92 year-old retired schoolteacher from California who sold helium hoods online. In 2012,​Hydorn was sentenced to five years of supervised probation for failing to file tax returns as part of a plea deal that absolved her from any involvement in six suicides.

One of Hydorn's would-be clients in Toronto, Canada, whose helium kit was not delivered before her arrest, was tracked down by the police and made to go to a hospital under threat of arrest and damage to her property.

How did the Lincolnwood man get to MMC's website in the first place? Melamed's blog post suggests that he may have been directed to their site by a paid advertisement on Google.

"Basically, MMC Depot currently does not rank organically for 'Exit Bags' but their paid search ad does," Melamed wrote.

As for what happened to the caller, Zussman told me that the salesperson who took the call informed the police, who handled it from there.

When I called the Lincolnwood Police Department, an officer confirmed that they received a call from a police department in Colorado. After receiving the call, they carried out a well-being check on the man in question. Essentially, they knocked on his door and asked if everything was alright. He said yes. The police left, and filed a report.

The status of the Lincolnwood man is unknown at this time.