See if you can guess how you would die if you walked up this completely innocuous staircase.

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Federal agents busted eight people for attempting to smuggle 26 pounds of methamphetamine disguised as Aztec souvenir decorative calendars and souvenir statues. The suspects apparently tried to mail the goods from Garden Grove, California to Hawaii.

(UPI via Daily Grail)

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Jessa Reed was addicted to meth for years, and it's great she survived to tell us about her rock bottom, which involved drinking her own pee to get high. Read the rest

Novelist Norman Ohler became fascinated with the Third Reich's reliance on opiods and methamphetamines when DJ Alexander Kramer mentioned it to him in passing; he set out to write a novel, but in Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich he produced what historian and authority on the Third Reich Ian Kershaw called "a serious piece of scholarship." Read the rest

We've heard countless stories about people brewing up meth in Walmart bathrooms, but now police have found a meth lab underneath a Walmart in Amherst, New York! They discovered the underground lab inside a culvert below the store's parking lot and a crew in hazmat gear is now clearing out the tunnel. From WIVB:

“We’ll talk to the proper authorities to figure out what we need to do to make sure that’s not accessible anymore,” said Captain Scott Chamberlin.

He said they did not receive any tips. The culvert was checked during a random preventative patrol.

“Routine patrol, that’s what we do every day,” said Captain Chamberlin.

We asked him if it’s routine to check underground.

He said, “We check in various areas that people who might be up to no good, might be using for no good.”

Members of the NYSP Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team passed buckets of evidence up from the manhole.

“Spray paint can, some various chemicals, a liquid we believe is methamphetamine,” said Captain Chamberlin.

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Meth. Not even once.

Fred Maldonado is suing In-N-Out for purportedly serving him a methamphetamine laced milkshake. In-N-Out denies the claims. Read the rest

"Meth lab not included."

Who knew caffeine, aspirin, and LSD were so darn beautiful up close?

Andreas Ulrich recounts how Germany's war machine became increasingly dependent on amphetamines, morphine and booze. Read the rest

Police in Nogales found 4.5 pounds of meth in an accordion Monday and took an 18 year old man into custody. The drugs, said to be worth $13,000, were seized and the teenager, a Mexican citizen, was turned over the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Phoenix New Times. [Photos: U.S. Customs and Border Protection]

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At Popular Mechanics, an analytical chemist uses clues from Breaking Bad to explain both the real science behind Walter White's meth formula, and the key flaw that either means the show's writers are taking a little artistic license or Walter is even more of a chemistry genius than anybody thought. Read the rest

[Video Link]

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.) Read the rest

Walter White from Breaking Bad, immortalized in street art on Rivington Street, NYC. Photographed and shared with Boing Boing by Daniel Albanese. This wheatpaste work is credited to street artist "ME." Bowery Boogie blog says,

Much of his work is co-opting established logos to fit the name, whether it’s the ME in Mets or Supreme. And of course, there’s the awesome Mitt Romney spoof that parlays the dog incident with the Griswold family vacation.

There's a needlepoint on this same theme.

Related: BrBa street art in Canada, and check out our BrBa archives. If you're in the mood for a video, watch our "Top 11 Breaking Bad Chemistry Moments" here, or check out our excellent adventure: air-dropping in to a random Breaking Bad fan's premiere party in the show's hometown of Albuquerque, NM. Read the rest

Trufans Miles O'Brien and Xeni dug into the show's vaults to explore Breaking Bad's top 10 chemistry moments.

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! Read the rest

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.

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