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Methamphetamine Frequently Asked Questions

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Methamphetamine Frequently Asked Questions
[email protected] April 15, 1996

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Abstract
Surprisingly, there does not appear to be a comprehensive source of information
relating to methamphetamine. While no list is ever complete, this one attempts to
answer technical questions related to the chemical methamphetamine. Unfortunately,


there tends to be a great deal of street lore that is blatantly wrong about
methamphetamine and similar compounds. This document also attempts to point out
some of the more common myths, and provide rational explanations.

Disclaimer

Email
Do not use this information. I am not a chemist. This is for informational
purposes only. Use of this information for illegal purposes is not condoned. The
author makes no warranty, expressed or implied, of the suitability of this
information for any particular purpose. The author does not endorse the abuse of
any drugs, legal or otherwise. This information has been gathered from openly
available sources. This is a preliminary document and should be considered
Did you find this document useful?
fictitious until proven otherwise.

Overview
Methamphetamine (also known as speed, meth, crystal, crank, and sometimes
confusingly called ice) is a chemical widely known for its stimulant properties on
the human body. It is frequently confused with other drugs that share similar
symptoms, including amphetamine, 4-methyl-aminorex, ephedrine, caffeine, and other
chemicals, both legal and illegal.

Terminology
In this document, we shall refer to the drugs by their common chemical names,
rather than by "street names", since the street names do not have a one-to-one
correspondence to actual chemicals. For example, the term "speed" can mean
Is this content inappropriate?
methamphetamine or amphetamine. The term "ice" is generally considered to apply to
4-methyl-aminorex, but is often used to refer to relatively pure (and in some
cases, not so pure) forms of methamphetamine.

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We shall use the term "methamphetamine" to refer to the substance in either its
free base (i.e. simple, unadorned) or salt (usually hydrochloride) form. When
precision is needed, we shall explicitly state one form or the other.

Pharmacology
This is one of the most difficult sections to write, partially because there is
very little "science" involved. The literature gives conflicting reports, due to
the fact that many criterion are subjective, and probably also due to confusion
over terminology. The pharmacological effects of methamphetamine are very similar
to those of similarly structured molecules.

Administration
Methamphetamine can be taken orally, snorted, smoked or injected, in approximately
increasing order of immediacy of onset.

Onset
Onset can be immediate (in the case of injection), or can take as long as 30-40
minutes if ingested orally.

Duration
Duration is subjective, but is probably on the order of 4 - 8 hours. Delayed
absorption (for example, due to oral ingestion) can prolong the effects relative
to time of administration. Of course, larger doses last longer due to the fact
that it is removed from the blood at a finite rate.

Plasma Life
The length of time that methamphetamine will stay in the plasma (blood) is between
4 to 6 hours. It can be detected in the urine one hour after use and up to 48
hours after use.

Dosage
A toxic reaction (or overdose) can occur at relatively low levels, 50 milligrams
of pure drug for a non-tolerant user. Different peoples' metabolisms work at
different rates, and drug strengths vary, so there is no way of stating a "safe"
or "unsafe" level of use.

Effects
These include euphoria, hyperexcitability, extreme nervousness, accelerated
heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, restlessness, insomnia, tooth grinding, incessant
talking, and other effects. Methamphetamine and other CNS stimulants have strong
bronchodilation effects. Vasoconstriction (tightening of blood vessels) and pupil
dilation are also common. Elevated blood pressure, heart rate, and other general
symptoms of increased sympathetic nervous activity. The physical effects are
almost assuredly due to interactions between the amphetamine structure and human
physiology, probably due to the similarity to adrenaline (epinephrine).
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Mental capacity is not diminished directly by the drug. In fact, some studies have
shown slight increases in mental capacity on simple tasks. It has been prescribed
for attention deficit disorder, among other things. Confusing reports here tend to
center around the effects of fatigue on mental capacity. Emotional responses may
range from euphoria to anger and paranoia. Preliminary doses tend to produce the
former, while continued use (e.g. for three or more days) tends to produce the
latter. It appears that these feelings may be linked to the neurotransmitters
dopamine and/or serotonin, although I have not seen a good reference on this yet.

For More Information

Add references for pharmacological data here

Chemistry
This is the easiest section to write, and the most fun, since I can be relatively
sure of the facts.

Molecular Information
All information is on free base unless otherwise noted. Naming Methamphetamine
Free Base: Chem Abstract Service (9th+ CIP) uninverted name: N,alpha-
Dimethylbenzeneethanamine Previous name: d-N,alpha-dimethylphenethylamine
Alternate Names: d-N-methylamphetamine d-deoxyephedrine (e.g. right-handed
ephedrine, minus an oxygen) d-desoxyephedrine 1-phenyl-2-methylaminopropane d-
phenylisopropylmethane methyl-beta-phenylisopropylamine Trademarks: Norodin
Methamphetamine Hydrochloride: What we mean by hydrochloride is that it has formed
a "salt". The basic structure is unchanged, but an HCl molecule has become
attracted to the free base. In this case, the hydrogen from the HCl has become
attracted to the nitrogen in the free base.

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You will notice that the salt form is much more common. This is for physiological
reasons. The same reaction which attracts the free base to HCl could also attract
it to other molecules, causing irritation and other symptoms. Trademarks:
Amphedroxyn Desfedrin Methedrine (many others) Structure

Formula Methamphetamine Free Base: C6H6CH2CH(NHCH3)CH3 Hill Convention: C10H15N

Molecular Weight 149.24 Percent Composition C 80.48% H 10.13% N 9.39% Melting
Point 170-175 degrees C Chirality Explain isomers in chemical terms. The human
terms: The d- is cool, the l- is shit, remember. If you have time, energy, and
equipment, you can separate the two and reprocess the l- into d- by oxidizing it
and reaminating it as described in the "critique" of the Phrack synthesis.

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Discuss other opinions (some say chirality does not matter, etc.) For More
Information The Merck Index

Synthesis
Industrial Methods
(add references) Reduction of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine Reducing condensation
product of BMK and methylamine Synthesis from D-phenylalanine

Field Methods
General Add a lot here on different methods. From: [email protected]
(Lamont Granquist) [email protected] (Jason Kennerly) writes:
Manufacturing methamphetamine, on the other hand, requires the use of not just
ether, but reducing agents such as LiAlH4. BAD STUFF! There are other recipes, but
none to practical to attempt. Apartment manufacture of meth is not possible.
Reduction of ephedrine with HI is a little better than LAH reduction. Condensation
Product of Phenylacetone and Methylamine From: [email protected] (Speed
Raver) Assuming you don't have amphetamine lying around, an easy synthesis with a
very high yield is to reduce the condensation product of phenylacetone and
methylamine. The benefit of this method is that different amines can be used to
produce novel N-alkyl amphetamines (ethamphetamine, tert-butylamphetamine, etc.)
From Ephedrine or Pseudoephedrine From: [email protected] (Speed Raver)
Making it from ephedrine or pseudoephedrine is possible. The only difference
between methamphetamine and (pseudo)ephedrine is that damn alpha-hydroxy group.
Reacting your ephedrine with thionyl chloride replaces the OH with Cl to produce
N-methyl-alpha-chloroamphetamine as an intermediate. Hydrogenating this product is
easy: use lithium aluminum hydride, sodium borohydride, or even hydrogen gas with
nickel or platinum

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metal as a catalyst. The product of this step is N-methylamphetamine and HCl.

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Evaporate off the water and you have methamphetamine hydrochloride. From:
[email protected] (Yogi Shan) Hydrogenation starting with (-) ephedrine,
whether direct or via the halide, will give d-meth. If you start with dl-
ephedrine, you get dl-meth. Reduction With Hydroiodic Acid and Red Phosphorus

OR
From: [email protected] (Lamont Granquist) From Fester, Secrets of Meth
Manufacturing: Method 4: Reduction With Hydroiodic Acid and Red Phosphorus In this
procedure, the alcohol grouping of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or PPA is reduced
by boiling one of these compounds in a mixture of hydroiodic acid and red
phosphorus. Hydroiodic acid works as a reducing agent because its dissociates at

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higher temperatures to iodine and hydrogen, which does the reducing. The
dissociation is reversible. The equilibrium is shifted in favor of dissociation by 10
adding red phosphorus to the mixture. The red phosphorus reacts with the iodine to
produce PI3, which
Methamphetamine then further
Frequently Askedreacts
Questionswith water to form phosphorus acid and more
hydroiodic acid. Since the hydrogen atom of the HI is being absorbed by the
ephedrine, the red phosphorus acts as a recycler. In some reductions, the need for
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HI is dispensed with just by mixing red phosphorus and iodine crystals in a water
solution.
metal as aThe red phosphorus
catalyst. then of
The product goes
thison step
to make HI by the above mentioned
is N-methylamphetamine and HCl.
process. With
Evaporate off athesmall
wateramount of have
and you due care, this is an hydrochloride.
methamphetamine excellent alternative
From: to
either purchasing, stealing,
[email protected] or making
(Yogi Shan) your own starting
Hydrogenation pure hydroiodic
with (-)acid. This method
ephedrine,
has the direct
whether advantageor of
viabeing easy towill
the halide, do. give
It was formerly
d-meth. the start
If you most popular
with dl-method of
making methyou
ephedrine, from ephedrine.
get dl-meth. Now red phosphorus
Reduction is on the
With Hydroiodic Acid California list of less
and Red Phosphorus
restricted chemicals, so an increased level of subterfuge
From: [email protected] (Lamont Granquist) From Fester, Secrets of is called for toMeth
obtain
significant amounts.
Manufacturing: MethodOne might think
4: Reduction that
With this is easily
Hydroiodic Acid andgotten around by making
Red Phosphorus In this
your own red
procedure, thephosphorus, but this
alcohol grouping ofis a process pseudoephedrine,
ephedrine, I would not wantor to PPA
undertake.
is reducedEver
hear
by of phosphorus
boiling shells?
one of these I wouldin
compounds much rather of
a mixture face the danger
hydroiodic of and
acid exploding
red
champagne bottles.
phosphorus. Those
Hydroiodic whoworks
acid insistasona finding
reducingout forbecause
agent themselves, will see
its dissociates at
Journaltemperatures
higher of the American Chemical
to iodine andSociety,
hydrogen, volume
which68,
doespage
the2305. As I The
reducing. recall, the
Poor Man's James
dissociation Bond also has
is reversible. Theaequilibrium
formula foris making red in
shifted phosphorus. Those with a by
favor of dissociation
knack for
adding redscrounging
phosphorusfrom industrial
to the mixture.sources
The redwill profit from
phosphorus reactsknowing that
with the red to
iodine
phosphorus is used in large quantities in the fireworks and matchmaking
produce PI3, which then further reacts with water to form phosphorus acid and more
industries. The striking pad on books of matches is about
hydroiodic acid. Since the hydrogen atom of the HI is being absorbed by the50% red phosphorus. The
determined experimenter
ephedrine, the red phosphoruscould obtain
acts asa apile of redIn
recycler. phosphorus by scraping
some reductions, the off
needthefor
striking
HI pads ofwith
is dispensed matchbooks
just by with a sharp
mixing knife. A typical
red phosphorus composition
and iodine crystals ofin the
a water
striking pad
solution. The is
redabout 40% redthen
phosphorus phosphorus,
goes on to along
makewith about
HI by the 30% antimony
above sulfide,
mentioned
and lesser
process. amounts
With a smallof glue,
amountiron oxide,
of due care, MnO2,
thisand
is glass powder. alternative
an excellent I don't think to
these contaminants
either purchasing, will seriously
stealing, interfere
or making your with the reaction.
own pure hydroiodicNaturally,
acid. Thisit is a
method
tedious
has the process
advantage toofget large
being amounts
easy to do.ofIt red phosphorus
was by scraping
formerly the the striking
most popular method of
pads off matchbooks. Another problem with this method is that
making meth from ephedrine. Now red phosphorus is on the California list of lessit can produce a
pretty crude
restricted product if
chemicals, so some simple precautions
an increased are not followed.
level of subterfuge is called From
forchecking
to obtain
out typical amounts.
significant samples of Onestreet
might meth,
think it
thatseems
thisbasic precautions
is easily gottenare routinely
around by making
ignored.
your own I believe
red that the
phosphorus, but by-products in the I
this is a process garbage methwant
would not are to undertake. Ever
hear of phosphorus shells? I would much rather face the danger of exploding
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champagne bottles. Those who insist on finding out for themselves, will see
Journal of the American Chemical Society, volume 68, page 2305. As I recall, the
3/1/2006 3:36 AM Bond also has a formula for making red phosphorus. Those with a
Poor Man's James
knack for scrounging from industrial sources will profit from knowing that red
phosphorus is used in large quantities in the fireworks and matchmaking
industries. The striking pad on books of matches is about 50% red phosphorus. The
determined experimenter could obtain a pile of red phosphorus by scraping off the
striking pads of matchbooks with a sharp knife. A typical composition of the
striking pad is about 40% red phosphorus, along with about 30% antimony sulfide,
and lesser amounts of glue, iron oxide, MnO2, and glass powder. I don't think
these contaminants will seriously interfere with the reaction. Naturally, it is a
tedious process to get large amounts of red phosphorus by scraping the striking
pads off matchbooks. Another problem with this method is that it can produce a
pretty crude product if some simple precautions are not followed. From checking
out typical samples of street meth, it seems basic precautions are routinely
ignored. I believe that the by-products in the garbage meth are

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iodoephedrine, and the previously mentioned azirine. If a careful fractional

distillation is done, these products can be removed. They can be avoided in the
first place if, when making hydroiodic acid from iodine and red phosphorus, the
acid is prepared first, and allowed to come to complete reaction for 20 minutes
before adding the ephedrine to it. This will be a hassle for some, because the
obvious procedure to follow is to use the water extract of the ephedrine pills to
make the HI in. The way around the roadblock here is to just boil off some more of
the water from the ephedrine pill extract, and make the acid mixture in fresh pure
water. Since the production of HI from iodine and red phosphorus gives off a good
deal of heat, it is wise to chill the mixture in ice, and slowly add the iodine
crystals to the red phosphorus-water mixture. To do the reaction, a 1000 ml round
bottom flask is filled with 150 grams of ephedrine hydrochloride (or PPA-HCl). The
use of the sulfate salt is unacceptable because HI reduces the sulfate ion, so
this interferes with the reaction. Also added to the flask are 40 grams of red
phosphorus and 340 ml of 47% hydroiodic acid. This same acid and red phosphorus
mixture can be prepared from adding 150 grams of iodine crystals to 150 grams of
red phosphorus in 300 ml of water. This should produce the strong hydroiodic acid
solution needed. Exactly how strong the acid needs to be, I can't say . I can tell
you that experiments have shown that one molar HI is ineffective at reducing
ephedrine to meth. The 47% acid mentioned above is a little over 3.5 molar. I
would think that so long as one is over 3 molar acid, the reaction will work. With
the ingredients mixed together in the flask, a condenser is attached to the flask,
and the mixture is boiled for one day. This length of time is needed for best
yields and highest octane numbers on the product. While it is cooking, the mixture
is quite red and messy looking from the red phosphorus floating around in it. When
one day of boiling under reflux is up, the flask is allowed to cool, then it is
diluted with an equal volume of water. Next, the red phosphorus is filtered out. A
series of doubled up coffee filters will work to get out all the red phosphorus,
but real filter paper is better. The filtered solution should look a golden color.
A red color may indicate that all the phosphorus is not yet out. If so, it is
filtered again. The filtered-out phosphorus can be saved for use in the next
batch. If filtering does not remove the red color, there may be iodine floating
around the solution. It can be removed by adding a few dashes of sodium bisulfate
or sodium thiosulfate. The next step in processing the batch is to neutralize the
acid. A strong lye solution is mixed up and added to the batch with shaking until
the batch is strongly basic. This brings the meth out as liquid free base floating
on top of the water. The strongly basic solution is shaken vigorously to ensure
that all the meth has been converted to the free base. With free base meth now
obtained, the next step, as usual, is to form the crystalline hydrochloride salt
of meth. To do this, a few hundred mls of toluene is added to the batch, and the
meth free base extracted out as usual. If the chemist's cooking has been careful,
the color of the toluene extract will be clear to pale yellow. If this is the
case, the product is sufficiently pure to make nice white crystals just by
bubbling dry HCl gas through the toluene extract as described in Chapter 5. If the
toluene extract is darker colored, a distillation is called for to get pure meth
free base. The procedure for that is also described in Chapter 5. The yield of
pure methamphetamine hydrochloride should be from 100 to 110 grams. Lithium-
Ammonia Reduction Reference: Ely, R. A. and McGrath, D.C., "Lithium-Ammonia
Reduction of Ephedrine to Methamphetamine: An Unusual Clandestine Synthesis,"
Journal of Forensic Sciences, JFSCA, Vol. 35, No. 3, May 1990, pp. 720-723

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Procedure: All the chemicals were reagent grade, with no special treatment of the
tetrahydrofuran (THF), and the atmosphere above the condensed ammonia was not
flushed with nitrogen gas. A three-neck flask was cooled in a dry ice/acetone
bath. A condenser was fitted in the center neck, an additional funnel containing
l-ephedrine base in THF was fitted into one side neck, and a rubber stopper fitted
with a glass tube extending to the bottom of the flask was fitted in the third
neck. Anhydrous ammonia gas was condensed and collected in the flask. Small pieces
of lithium metal were rinsed in petroleum ether, patted dry, and added to the
condensed ammonia. A deep royal blue color was noted as the lithium metal
dissolved in the condensed ammonia. The l-ephedrine was added drop wise to the
lithium ammonia solution over a period of approximately 10 minutes with stirring.
When all of the l-ephedrine had been added, ammonium chloride was added slowly to
the solution. The flask was removed from the cooling bath, and the condensed
ammonia was allowed to warm to room temperature and evaporate from the flask
through the side necks. When most of the ammonia had evaporated, water was added
to the remaining solution until it cleared and any remaining lithium metal was
decomposed. The remaining solution was removed from the flask to a separatory
funnel, where the aqueous layer was discarded. The THF layer was dried with
magnesium sulfate, and the hydrochloride salt of the methamphetamine was made by
bubbling hydrogen chloride through the THF. The same procedure was used,
substituting phenylproponolamine and methylephedrine as the starting materials. A
second synthesis was conducted with l-ephedrine, using the same procedure except
that the reaction was not quenched with ammonium chloride. Results: The reaction
was found to reduce l-ephedrine to d-methamphetamine quickly and easily .
Furthermore, it was found that the reaction converted phenylpropanolamine to
amphetamine and methylephedrine to dimethylamphetamine. The time required for the
reaction to proceed from the condensing of the ammonia gas in the reaction flask
until the excess lithium was decomposed was approximately one hour. The majority
of this time was spent waiting for the condensed ammonia to evaporate from the
reaction flask. It was also found that the ephedrine would reduce to
methamphetamine without the addition of ammonium chloride as a quenching agent.
From: [email protected] (Eleusis) According to the infamous J.For.Sci. article
describing a "novel method of amphetamine production", the researchers concluded
that with or without an ammonium chloride quench yields were good. I like this
article especially because the rinky-dink DEA chemists that wrote it didn't seem
to entirely grasp the concept of the procedure they were doing (in fact, a
slightly modified Birch reduction known by some other name I can't recall). All in
all, quite an entertaining and educational article ;-). From: [email protected]
(DMurphy3) This may be so (in fact I read the same article), but typically a water
quench leads to the alcohol, which is what we were trying to get rid of to start
with. Also, if one were using Na rather than Li
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(Na is the Birch, I too forget the Li named reduction), adding water to quench
will *definitely* be exciting, particularly considering the flammability of THF or
ether. Apparently they were following the guys handwritten notes. It would have
been even more interesting had they used the real Birch method, using Na,
especially when they tried the water quench ;>) From: [email protected] (Eleusis)
Yep - apparently that would be the case. As well, any extra Li (or Na if doing the
straight Birch method) would convert to the Hydroxide, which might fuck the
product up a bit. I bet you they *did* do that the first time, and then, after
they replaced that wing of the lab, they decided not to "publish" those
results ;-). From Phenylalanine From: [email protected] (Speed Raver) A
surprisingly simple synthesis is possible from the amino acid phenylalanine, which
is available at health food stores for about $14 for 100 tablets. Phenylalanine is
2-amino-3-phenylpropanoic acid, which is more or less amphetamine with a COOH
where the CH3 should be at the end of the chain. Thionyl chloride will replace the
OH with a Cl, which falls off and is replaced by H when you give it lithium
aluminum hydride, sodium borohydride, or hydrogen gas and nickel/platinum. If you
use hydrogen and metal for that step, you'll ha v e to reduce the carbonyl group
with one of the hydrides, so best save time + effort and use them and do both
reductions at once. When that carbonyl is reduced, you now have amphetamine. Go
back up to that first one I mentioned for upgrading amphetamine into
methamphetamine.

Incomplete Syntheses
These are methods that are subjectively evaluated to be less useful, but still may
serve as interesting lessons in applied chemistry. Synthesis from Amphetamine
From: [email protected] (Speed Raver) One of the easiest ways to make
methamphetamine is from amphetamine. Of course, this assumes you have amphetamine
in the first place, but let's just pretend you have some and you want to spice it
up a bit. The difference between amphetamine and methamphetamine is the addition
of a single methyl group (CH3) to the amino group sticking off the middle carbon
atom in the chain. Fortunately, substituting amines is really simple. Vaporize
your amine (your amphetamine) with a bunch of vaporized chloromethane (CH3Cl, a
solvent) and some gaseous pyridine... voila, the amino group takes the methyl from
the chloromethane and lets a hydrogen go. The hydrogen joins the liberated
chlorine, and the resulting HCl is soaked up by the pyridine. The pyridine is
optional. Adding it drives the reaction a bit by pulling the excess HCl out of the
equation, but it's not necessary. Methylamine

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