I noticed that PZ Myers has already commented on this story in Wired about how the Feds are cracking down on people with home chemistry sets and the like. Apparently there is a danger that kids might hurt themselves with chemicals; also terrorists might get hold of them. But another reason to ban people from owning chemistry glassware is that they might make crystal meth with it.
PZ has already gone into how this discourages kids from getting involved with science – read his post and the wired article for more details. I just had to comment on how the useless paranoid war on drugs has once again interfered with the lives of otherwise law abiding people. First, do they really think this will stop people making meth? I’m sure determined cooks will find a way round this somehow. Secondly, the crackdown on availability of the precursors has already pushed most meth production to Mexico anyway:
This deadly drug is now a growth industry for Mexico's deadly drug cartels. They're replacing small U.S. kitchen labs with Mexican super labs. The cartels are smuggling ephedrine from China, India and Europe and cooking up huge quantities of cheap meth — including an especially potent variety, Mexican Ice. Then the cartels smuggle it north to U.S. users.
"They're making quite a lot of money off of meth," Gonzalez said. "They are pretty much using the same routes that they've used in the past with cocaine and with marijuana."
By some estimates, as much at 80 percent of the meth on U.S. streets comes from Mexico.
The war on drugs has been successful only in promoting the outsourcing of drug production. The resultant cost reductions have promoted increased drug use. Behold, the market in action.
They have already banned most good stuff from chem sets for safety reasons. I remember feeling envy at Oliver Sacks' book "Uncle Tungsten"-he had liquid ammonia and other cool stuff in his home lab. And buying allergy meds in Missouri just isn't worth the trouble.
Posted by: Ruth | June 02, 2006 at 05:13 AM
Hmm... they'll be banning roadmenders' tar next. It's got pitchblende in it, and that contains. With the aid of a fully equipped electromagnetic or centrifuge separation plant to concentrate the U235, a major road might be turned into a nuclear weapon within a millennium!
Maybe that's why the M25 near where I live is so often at a standstill. The authorities must be leaching out all the uranium from it to prevent such a catastrophe. It's the only sensible explanation.
Posted by: Big Al | June 08, 2006 at 01:31 AM
"It's got pitchblende in it, and that contains."
See, they even extracted the uranium from that post! ;)
Posted by: Big Al | June 09, 2006 at 01:19 AM