Posted on 06/16/2004 11:18:52 AM PDT by OXENinFLA
It's a significant and scientific step in the state's ongoing battle against methamphetamine.
A new additive has been created that can make anhydrous ammonia, a common farm fertilizer, ineffective for making meth, state drug enforcement officials said Monday.
Anhydrous ammonia is a chemical fertilizer widely used to boost crop production on Iowa farms. Anhydrous tanks are found on much of the state's agricultural land. The new additive was developed by Iowa State University researchers.
They won't release the name of the additive, what it's made of or how exactly it stops the meth-making process because it's under legal review by federal officials, and there may be patent issues; but state officials are assuring the public that the additive works.
"The science is good, and I am very pleased with this happening in Iowa," said Iowa's drug czar Marvin Van Haaften. "For the anhydrous, this has nationwide, maybe even beyond our nation" impact.
"I'm very excited about it," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at zwire.com ...
Of course I'm sure criminals will find ways around it.
Stopping METH Ping.............
Sounds like a good challenge for an adventurous organic chemistry student, maybe even a thesis.
I'm amazed this hasn't come up before, actually. Sounds better than limiting me to one small box of actifed per day.
It has to be something unlikely to kill farmers or produce consumers.
But they were willing to admit it "tastes like chicken" LOL!
And what of the new product? Is it lethal? Will trailer park chemists test their new batch before putting it on the streets? Or does it just clump up and visually become offputting?
Now, if the haircare industry would just find a shampoo additive that takes the mull off the mullet, trailer parks across the U.S. might again be semi-attractive places to live.
Never underestimate the ingenuity of the market. (Maybe they'll make their own anhydrous ammonia.)
Simple: add a drop of WATER to each gallon, or add a hydroxy to the NH3 so that exposure to atmospheric humidity turns the ammonia to ammonium hydroxide. (Dope cooks don't use inert atmospheres in their coffee pots!)
One little electron.....
"Produce" is a noun in this case. I think the act of producing consumers is outside the realm of chemisty :)
As for the odds of killing farmers, you'd better ask them.
That is what happens anyway.
When I was in high school in Iowa my most dreaded part of my job at the CO-OP Elevator involved running anhydrous ammonia from the tank into a tank truck.
No matter what we did, some would always make contact with moisture in the air and create a fine mist that looked like smoke. Burns the crap out of one's nose to say the least.
The anhydrous ammonia is injected into the ground as a nitrogen fertilizer but it first hydrates with soil moisture....otherwise it would all blow away.
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