If you think about how assisted suicide is applied in Canada (or at least in Quebec) it's really not that surprising.
Despite the somewhat negative coverage medical assitance in dying is really given to people with days/weeks to live as a way to skip the suffering of when your illness is not quite advanced enough to kill you, but is definitely advanced enough for the person to live in considerable pain.
If, say, 50% of people who die do so from extreme old age or wasting away from a disease they'll never recover from, what's surprising about a culture where 10% of that population decides to end their life a few months early on their own terms?
Stepping back, why is something outside your own cultural norms unbelievable in a general sense instead of it feeling natural to you for there to be different cultures? You don't have to agree with another culture, but why is it uncomfortable for it to exist?
You can read all the Canadian government’s reports. I believe the latest published was 2022 (4.1% of deaths) and it has a 20-30% annual growth rate (also from the report.) So 5% for 2023 seems easily achieved.
There are a lot of other statistics in the reports. Recommended skimming.
Funny - in my mind, the ideal would be 100%. No accidents or suicides, just people choosing to end things peacefully once they’ve reached the limits of medicine.
Not surprising. There are internet forums dedicated to help young people commit suicide. Yes, these forums offer detailed guides on how to best kill yourself, a marketplace to exchange the necessary materials, and a section where undecided members receive social approval to commit suicide. I assume that's what they include as assisted suicide.
