Boing Boing » methamphetamine

Breaking Bad Dance Remix music video (warning: S.1+2 spoilers)

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:17:00 +0000

Do not watch if you have not yet watched seasons one and two of the television show Breaking Bad. Tight, tight, tight, yeah! Created by the very talented video remixer Chris Lohr. Damn, but Mr. White has fallen a long, long way since S1, que no?

(Thanks, Joe Sabia.)

Walmart breaks bad: active meth lab found inside Missouri store

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 02:28:33 +0000

Apparently, corporate profits just aren't enough for some global megabusinesses these days: a Walmart store in South St. Louis County, Missouri was emptied by police when an "active methamphetamine production laboratory" was discovered inside.

Now, it's entirely possible that the "lab" consisted of an empty plastic bottle and some chemicals, but still, you guys: some tweeker was cooking crystal inside a freakin' Walmart.

The store was open and full of customers when it was cleared about 6:15 p.m. Thursday after employees and then police discovered the possible hazardous situation involving the substances used to make methamphetamine, St. Louis County police Lt. Mark Cox said. The chemicals were discovered after police were called about a shoplifter. Cox did not yet know details of the "lab," how it was put together or where in the store it was located.

UPDATE: It gets weirder. This local news report further clarifies that a woman detained for shoplifting at the Walmart "began to make meth in the loss prevention office."

Now that is baller. You're busted for shoplifting, placed in what amounts to a holding cell inside the store, and how do you kill time? Makin' ice!

"Loss prevention had detained the woman, and she was placed in a holding area until officers arrived," reports KDSK-TV.

"While she was detained, she began cooking meth in the holding room."

Sounds like an improvised mobile setup—she's no Heisenberg, and that's no blue.

Good news, though, the store will only be closed for three hours. And, nobody got their face chewed off.

Here's a photo of hazmat guys cleaning it up. And a local Patch.com article has more details here.

Sarah Flagg, writing on a local Patch.com page, says it was "a portable meth lab in her purse," also known as “shake and bake.” These are often fashioned on the fly from a two-liter or 20-ounce beverage bottle (the size Bloomberg is outlawing in New York City... coincidence?).

Shake 'n' Bake is an actual thing. It is, as you might imagine, very dangerous: a resulting explosion can kill or seriously burn the "cook" and any bystanders.

(thanks, @harringtonkent)

Breaking Good: how to synthesize Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) From N-Methylamphetamine (crystal meth)

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:20:45 +0000

Photo: Chris Howey / Shutterstock

Genius scientific paper* of the day: "A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine, by O. Hai and I. B. Hakkenshit." (PDF).

A response by annoyed Sudafed users to the onerous demands by pharmacies for ID and tracking, due to the fact that this helpful and common over-the-counter drug can be used to manufacture crystal meth.

Snip from the paper:

A novel and straightforward synthesis of pseudoephidrine from readily available N-methylamphetamine is presented. This practical synthesis is expected to be a disruptive technology replacing the need to find an open pharmacy.
Pseudoephedrine, active ingredient of Sudafed®, has long been the most popular nasal decongestant in the United States due to its effectiveness and relatively mild side effects [1]. In recent years it has become increasingly difficult to obtain psuedoephedine in many states because of its use as a precursor for the illegal drug N-methylamphetamine (also known under various names including crystal meth, meth, ice, etc.)[1,2]. While in the past many stores were able to sell pseudoephedrine, new laws in the United States have restricted sales to pharmacies, with the medicine kept behind the counter. The pharmacies require signatures and examination of government issued ID in order to purchase pseudoephedrine. Because the hours of availability of such pharmacies are often limited, it would be of great interest to have a simple synthesis of pseudoephedrine from reagents which can be more readily procured.

A quick search of several neighborhoods of the United States revealed that while pseudoephedrine is difficult to obtain, N-methylamphetamine can be procured at almost any time on short notice and in quantities sufficient for synthesis of useful amounts of the desired material. Moreover, according to government maintained statistics, Nmethylmphetamine is becoming an increasingly attractive starting material for pseudoephedrine, as the availability of Nmethylmphetamine has remained high while prices have dropped and purity has increased [2]. We present here a convenient series of transformations using reagents which can be found in most well stocked organic chemistry laboratories to produce psuedoephedrine from N-methylamphetamine.

(via @ioerror. Images, via Shutterstock: At top, a type of glass pipe commonly used to smoke crystal meth. Inset, N-Methylamphetamine. Below, a LOL, referencing an episode in the first season of meth-themed TV show Breaking Bad, via @yesthatkarim.)

* Note the name of the authors, and that of the journal. It's parody, folks.