Suicides Spur Suits on Amazon Sales of Legal-But-Lethal Compound

Like a lot of 17-year-olds, Tyler Muhleman wasn’t keen on going out to dinner with his parents. They thought nothing of it when Tyler stayed back in the house.

When they returned two hours later with Tyler’s takeout, they called out for him. No answer. They found Tyler unconscious, his body blocking the door to his room. First his father, then paramedics, performed CPR. It was too late.

On Tyler’s desk was an open bottle of sodium nitrite, a chemical that in low concentrations is approved for use in food preservation. But this sodium nitrite was 98% pure. Tyler ...