Spokane psychologist Rob Neils grew up in Libby, Mont., where the now-closed W.R. Grace & Co. mined and processed vermiculite, which contained asbestos, which resulted in sickness and death for hundreds of residents. The suffering Neils witnessed reinforced his adamant belief that men and women should have the power to determine when they die. In 1991, he worked for Initiative 119, which voters turned down.

Neils now supports the proposed Washington Death with Dignity Act, but he would open it up to even more people, not just the terminally ill. “But it’s a good first step,” he said in this recent interview with the editorial board.

Q: Trace for us your involvement in the issue.

A: The original person who began this was Ralph Mero in Seattle. He came over to Spokane and introduced the idea at the Unitarian church in the ‘80s. I became treasurer for Washington Citizens for Death with Dignity. I’ve done 25 major things for the movement and at present my Web site is No. 3 or 4 out of millions when you type in “death with dignity.”

Q: On your Web site, you have statistics that say doctors tend to be for this. Everything we’ve heard is just the opposite.

A: Especially younger doctors. Doctors who go to conventions tend to be older docs. Older docs tend to be absolutists, and they have the votes. People who are educated beyond high school tend to support it at better than 50 percent. By the time you get up to master’s and Ph.D.s, it’s up to 80 percent. Among doctors, psychiatrists are more likely to support it than surgeons. Nurses are much more likely to support it than doctors. Support is growing.

Q: Has this always been a position you embraced? Or did it involve a change of attitude on your part?

A: I was raised third-generation Lutheran in Libby, Mont., where about half the guys I played basketball with are dead; my sister is dead. When (former Gov.) Judy Martz came to Libby, she was debating whether she should use her silver bullet for the worst environmental disaster that’s happened in the United States. I watched (a high school friend) get wheeled in (to the hearing). I played basketball with him. His wife stood up and said, “He wanted to say that our two sons were diagnosed with this last week.” Anyone in the room, I offered to help (die).

Q: Suicide is suicide. Why do we need this?

A: If you pull a gun out of your drawer and go bam and (someone) comes in and finds you, that’s a mess. When you put a gun up your nose, it can blow out the right side and leave your left side going. There’s a guy who tried that, still wants to die. He’s in soft restraints, in a wheelchair, outside the nurses’ station. No exit. Sartre’s hell. I can tell you how not to do it. Don’t use guns. Don’t use pills. About one out of seven people who OD, it doesn’t work.

Q: Do we need the government in it, because people will mess it up?

A: Yes. We’re a nation of laws. Just like abortion. You don’t want coat hanger abortions. You want laws to determine there’s at least a modicum of safety.

Q: Opponents say most pain, if not all, can be taken care of.

A: That’s a lie. You can have your pain controlled if I snow you to a zombie. If you want to be able to move, it’s not likely pain will be controlled. Painkillers aren’t pain killers. They are pain relievers. Does pain build character? Sure. It’s just that I have all the character I want. And I’ll determine when I’ve had enough pain.

Q: Is it risky to build law, in a nation of laws, based on a set of psychological presumptions that are the subject of wide disagreement?

A: There’s wide disagreement whether “Billary,” Obama or McCain ought to be president. And we have a lawful way of deciding that. Let’s put this to the people. Let’s vote it.

Q: Will they gather enough signatures? Will it pass?

A: It needs 225,000. You’ll see the polls support it early on. And the closer it gets to the end, you’ll see the Roman Catholic Church spend more and more money against it. They had an anti-euthanasia Sunday just before we voted last time. They picked up $4 million. I wondered why. Well, why go to church if you’re OK with death? I don’t need celestial fire insurance, thank you, I’ll just go.

Q: We talked with people with disabilities. They have fear of societal pressures. Has that been born out in Oregon?

A: Oregon put a clause in there that if you coerce a person to die, you’re up for murder.

Q: It’s not going to be that blatant. It’s going to be subtle: “Mom, we’re concerned about you, but we’re trying to figure out how Johnny’s going to go to college.”

A: That’s why we need two docs and if there’s any question, we need a mental health exam on the thing.

Q: But the people we interviewed (with disabilities) feel the slippery slope is headed for them. Whatever money government spends now to help them out, there will be pressures to free that money up.

A: It hasn’t happened in Oregon. If anything, those people can’t put it together money-wise or politically to get it. They’re excluded more than included. Their fears should be just the opposite. They might not be able to avail themselves of this legal right.

Q: Isn’t there something for all of us to learn from natural death?

A: You’ve got to be kidding me. Monitors are hooked to every orifice in the body and the skin. I’ve taken sheets and thrown them up over the monitors so that people will touch their loved ones. They won’t touch them. They’re afraid they’ll short out a monitor. A natural death doesn’t happen very often.

Q: How do you want to die?

A: I would like for people to come out to my seven acres on a private airstrip. All my friends. Have a great week. I’ve always wanted to attend my own funeral. Then I would like to get in my airplane, which has an automatic pilot, and I’d like to take my oxygen mask off (at) 30,000 feet and die.