Chemistry World, UK
10-12-06
Methamphetamine crooks down on the farm
Iowa researchers have discovered a way to curb illegal methamphetamine
production across agricultural states in the US. The plan is to add a chemical to
farmers’ fertiliser, which is often stolen to help cook up the drug, Iowa officials
announced this week. But it’s not clear this will severely dent the
methamphetamine trade.
George Kraus and John Verkade of Iowa State University led a six-year
program to stop people making the highly addictive drug in small-scale labs at
home. So-called ‘meth cooks’ flourish in Iowa because they can steal a crucial
ingredient, anhydrous ammonia, from the 26 000 tanks across the state where it
is stored for use as fertiliser.
Nearly all Iowa meth cooks follow the same recipe, says Marvin Van Haaften,
director of the governor’s office of drug control policy. They convert an over-thecounter decongestant, pseudoephedrine, to methamphetamine by reaction with
lithium strips (from batteries) and anhydrous ammonia. Despite attempts to
regulate the sale of pseudoephedrine, and to lock up ammonia tanks, meth
cooks are still producing the drug.
The chemists found, however, that doping the anhydrous ammonia with liquid
calcium nitrate, itself a fertiliser, dramatically reduced the meth yield from around
40 per cent to under two per cent. Stealing adulterated ammonia from the
fertiliser tanks would no longer be worth the effort. The findings have been
confirmed by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and the idea successfully
tested in field trials where unlocked doctored ammonia tanks were soon left
alone by would-be meth makers.
‘It was a lucky discovery, but our choices were limited,’ said Kraus. ‘The chemical
[additive] had to be safe, non-corrosive and non-toxic.’
Van Haaften says that other agricultural states have shown interest in the idea. In
practice, farmers will add the meth inhibitor to their tanks voluntarily and up to
twice a year: the cost per tank is estimated at $24, cheaper than a $44 lock.
Methamphetamine can be produced in other ways – by distilling pure ammonia,
or using an alternative red phosphorus method – but their difficulty should
dissuade meth cooks.
The chemical additive will not stop illegal meth trading: at least 80 per cent of
methamphetamine in Iowa comes from Mexico, estimates Van Haaften. But it will
ease the concerns of farmers and local communities.