Acquiring precursors/reagents too difficult to make clandestine chemistry even worth it?

Seems like it would be way too difficult not even knowing where to acquire them and too attention-garnering to even get them to make this a worthwhile pursuit and the idea should be left well-enough alone, far easier to just import the stuff than to synthesize it. For example, with MDMA too difficult to get safrole (in US), p-benzoquinone (or to synthesize it yourself), things needed to create methylamine (let alone methylamine itself) or the random reagents used in each step, no wonder there are essentially no MDMA labs in US


Comments


[3 Points] galmse:

Can't take a walk in the woods without tripping over sassafras in my part of the country. Nitromethane is just as good as methylamine. The performic epoxidation described by Shulgin works just as well with acetic acid. They will never ban mercury and aluminum.

Chemistry is all around you. Just do more research.


[2 Points] randomnumberx:

They're all on some global drug watch list, so sad. Maybe you can find them from a research chemical supplier.


[1 Points] XxTheCrowXx:

Yeah unless you can get your supplies from the Netherlands, or some other country that isn't nearly as strict.


[1 Points] wounded__knee:

Even with adequate start-up capital, it's difficult (near impossible). I've done extensive research in the synthesis (of MDMA specifically) and understand the chemistry on a theoretical level. But acquiring all of the precursors discretely and efficiently seems implausible. For me, even with enough capital investment and "know-how" - the payoff isn't worth the effort (may never acquire all necessary items, resulting in total loss). Which is ridiculous considering the potential for a high yield to cost ratio...


[1 Points] fuuuuckckckckck:

Methylamine is really easy to synthesize, which is one of the major plot holes in Breaking Bad. P2P would be much harder to get.


[1 Points] fuuuuckckckckck:

Really depends on the chemical. Meth is pretty easy if you can get pseudo/eph. Maybe take a trip to china and buy some, you can get a kilo of pseudo for like $2 or something.


[1 Points] This_Is_A_Not_Me:

From what I see obtaining precursors from China is pretty easy. Its the customs part.