Would you swallow a spoonful of drain cleaner? Does the thought of injecting brake fluid into your arm appeal to you? Care to top off your dessert with a bit of rat poison?
These are just a few of the common ingredients in Meth. One reason behind the explosive growth in Meth labs is the availability of the components. When users smoke, inject or drink Meth, this is what they are sending to their brain, cardiovascular system and throughout their bodies:
| Alcohol - Gasoline additives/Rubbing Alcohol Ether (starting fluid) Benzene Paint thinner Freon Acetone Chloroform Camp stove fuel Anhydrous ammonia White gasoline Pheynl-2-Propane Phenylacetone Phenylpropanolamine Rock, table or Epsom salt | Red Phosphorous Toluene (found in brake cleaner) Red Devil Lye Drain cleaner Muraitic acid Battery acid Lithium from batteries Sodium metal Ephedrine Cold tablets Diet aids Iodine Bronchodialators Energy boosters Iodine crystals |
Lab equipment - including tubing, unmarked Mason jars with tubes attached, stained coffee filters, 2-liter pop bottles, blenders, camera batteries, wooden matches, propane cylinders and hot plates - are tip offs to the production of Meth.
Individually, each product is legal and useful. But when mixed together and processed, the results are deadly - to the producer, user and innocent bystanders.
Methamphetamine can sometimes vary in color, though it's usually white or clear/transleucent. Colors can, however, occur for various reasons. Among them are these:
RED: The product was made from pseudoephedrine, and the red coloring of the tablet was not adequately washed away (it is difficult)
ORANGE: Ephedrine sulfate was used, and some of the sulfate was reduced to sulfur.
PURPLE: Iodine from a phosphorus-iodine reaction was not washed out.
GREEN: Copper (or other metallic) salts somehow made their way in to the mixture, probably due to the reaction vessel used in the manufacture.
BROWN: Oxidized red coloring (see red above), or tablating agent was present in the reduction.