Assisted suicides - What's your viewpoint?

When I recently visited a hospital, I noticed that some people were hooked up to machines which kept them alive. They were completly dependend on the machine. I had gone to visit a close family friend who was hooked up to the machine. I visited her daily, without fail. All the time I either stood by her bed or sat next to her bed watching her waste away into someone i didn't know, her eyes would fill with tears and look at me in a way that said, "I know I won't be here much longer and I am in pain:...her begging eyes to help her was overwhelming sometimes. She could not walk, could not talk there at the end...just those "eyes" that told me what she wanted..to be set free from this prison that she was imprisoned in. But our hands are bound by rules, regulations and laws and we have to watch helplessly as they suffer. Assited suicide are illegal in some parts of the world. But I think it should be made legal, but under certain conditions. Like for terminally ill patients...who have no hope for survival, Cancer patiants who are in their last leg, People involved in horrible accidents and who are in horrible pain with no chance of survival, someone who is born with some genetic defect which makes their life hell and it gets worse and worse over a period of time, etc. This is a very sensitive issue which should be handeled delicately. The family and patients should be given an option so that the pain, suffering and the negatives side effects are minimized. I hope the law makers out there are listening and change the laws just enough to help mitigate the patients/their families pain and suffering.