Methamphetamine production

In recent years ATS production has been spreading in geographical terms. Existing concentrations of production have not been dispersed but new locations of production have been identified. Production continues to be concentrated in North America, East South-East Asia, Europe, Oceania as well as — and this is a recent phenomenon - in South Africa. Most methamphetamine production continues to occur in North America and in East South-East Asia. Concentration patterns have not changed for amphetamine, the production of which mainly takes place in Europe. Similarly, most ecstasy production takes place in Europe and in North America, though production has increasingly also been found in East and South-East Asia. 

There are strong indications that domestic methamphetamine production in the USA has been falling.8... 

Role of Project PRISM in countering synthetic drugs and their precursors , INCB presentation to the Conference Europe-Asia Cooperation on Synthetic Drugs and their Precursors , Paris, 6-7 March 2007. These are substantial amounts. By comparison, total licit trade in ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine is estimated at around 30 mt and 1,200 mt respectively. [Source INCB, 2005 Precursors]. The 16 mt of interdicted/suspended shipments could have been used to produce 110 mt of methamphetamine. Were this to have ended up on the illicit market, it would have increased global methamphetamine production by some 40 per cent. 

Methamphetamine production, which used to be concentrated in the west and the southwest, has now spread across the USA, with clandestine methamphetamine labs dismantled in all 50 states in 2005. The number of super-labs11 dismantled has, however, been falling, from 244 in 2001 to 35 in 2005. A further decline is expected for 2006. Most of the super-labs (30 out of 35) were operating in California.12... 

One indirect measure of methamphetamine production is to analyze the number of times a country is identified, by the country making the seizure, as the origin of the seized drug. This information is normally furnished in the Annual Reports Questionnaire. Based on this method,15 over the 2003-05 period the three largest methamphetamine producers in the region seem to be China, followed by Myanmar, the Philippines and other Asia . This includes countries such as Indonesia, the Lao PDR and India, mainly producing for the local market. 

China reported dismantling 37 methamphetamine labs in 2005, and 51 labs in the first half of 2006. A third of the latter were in Guangdong province.16 Indeed, most methamphetamine production in China seems to be taking place in the two southeastern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian. However, as controls in these provinces tighten, clandestine production is now spreading to many inland locations in provinces of central, southern and northern China.17... 

Methamphetamine production in Myanmar is mostly concentrated in the Shan State, which borders China... 

Number of times a country was identified by other Asian countries as a source country for methamphetamine production over the 2003-05 period, expressed as a proportion of all such reports obtained (N = 35) Origin refers to the countries to which drug shipments could be traced back. 

A further, indirect indication of methamphetamine production can be derived from the geographical location of ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine seizures. The largest such seizures in Asia over the 2004-2005 period were reported from China (which is also one of the main licit producers of ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine), followed by the Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia and India (another major licit producer of ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine), and at far lower levels, Hong Kong SAR of China and Thailand. Taken together, the Asian countries accounted for 89 per cent of the world s ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine seizures in 2005.20... 

Methamphetamine production in Europe continues to be limited to a few countries. For 2005 only the Czech Republic and the Republic of Moldova reported dismantling methamphetamine labs. Over the last decade, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova and Slovakia have reported lab seizures consistently. Occasional lab seizures have been made in the Ukraine, Germany, the UK, Lithuania and Bulgaria. There are some indications that methamphetamine production might be taking place in the Russian Federation, though no lab seizure has been reported.23... 

Methamphetamine production is becoming a problem in South Africa. This is also reflected in demand indicators, notably in Cape Town. The number of dismantled methamphetamine labs has been rising steadily, from only 1 in 2002 to 4 in 2004 and 11 in 2005. Both ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine, mainly originating in China, are now being seized in the country. Thus far there are no indications that methamphetamine is produced for export. 

As previously mentioned, the Mexican authorities have taken decisive steps to reduce methamphetamine production and trafficking by drastically reducing the import of methamphetamine precursor chemicals. 

Nevertheless, the positive trends reported from the USA and Canada have been partly offset by reports of rising methamphetamine abuse in Mexico. This seems to reflect growing methamphetamine production there and, although the bulk of the methamphetamine pro-... 

Methamphetamine is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting powder that dissolves easily in water or alcohol. Methamphetamine production begins with a common chemical known as ephedrine. After using several toxic chemicals, including hydriodic acid, chemical solvents, and heavy metals such as mercury and lead, methamphetamine is produced. Chronic users often combine... 

In 1999, the DEFEAT Methamphetamine Bill authorized 30 million for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to develop a comprehensive, nationwide plan to target and control methamphetamine. It also added 25 million for methamphetamine prevention efforts, especially in rural and urban areas hard hit by methamphetamine use. This bill also added to the list of chemicals considered precursors to methamphetamine production that could result in criminal penalties. In the same year, the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Abuse Reduction Bill authorized more federal money for methamphetamine treatment and prevention programs, as well as targeting federal resources to high-use methamphetamine areas. 

Ephedra has been closely linked to methamphetamine production. There are movements In many localities to outlaw the herb. There are many drug interactions with Ma huang. )9-BI(K kcrs may enhance the sympathetic effect and cause hypertentiion. MAOIs may interact with ephedra to cause hypertensive cri.si.s. Phcnothiaz.ines might block the or effects of ephedra, causing hypotension and tachycardia. Simultaneous use of theophylline may cau.se GI and CNS effects. In pregnancy, ephedra is absolutely contraindicated (uterine stimulation). Persons with heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes should not take ephedra. 

This method involves the addition of an alcohol solution containing the Schiff s base formed between methylamine and phenylacetone onto the activated aluminum. In the other methods, the opposite order of addition was employed. To maximize yields of product, the competing side reactions are suppressed. In the case of activated aluminum methamphetamine production, the main side reaction is the reduction of phenylacetone into an interesting, but quite useless pinacol. It has the structure shown on the next page ... 

Methamphetamine availability has increased sharply over the past year in the Northeast Region, primarily because of an increase in wholesale distribution by Mexican criminal groups. .. National-level laboratory seizure data as well as law enforcement reporting indicated that domestic methamphetamine production has expanded to more areas of the country. .. Law enforcement reporting and drug seizure data indicated that methamphetamine production has increased sharply in Mexico since... 

The combination of GC with FTIR and MS detection has been used for a variety of applications [138-142]. In all of these the GC effluent is spht through a tee and each branch goes to one of the two detectors. Examples include a sample from suspected clandestine use of a chemical laboratory showed phenyl-2-propanone and other compounds indicative of methamphetamine production, the concentration of benzene, toluene, the xylene isomers, and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene in a gasoline, the trace contaminants in solvents used in semiconductor manufacture, the three flavor essence isomers eugenol, and ds-and trans- isoeugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxy-phenol and ds- and trans- 2-methoxy-4-propenylphenol), and the components in a perfume sample. In the last of these, the sample was previously ran by GC-AED with C, H, O, and N detection to augment the other two types of detectors. 

A Figure 8.36 An aziridtne that forms as a by-product of the Emde method for methamphetamine production. 

US EPA. 2008. RCRA hazardous waste identification of methamphetamine production process by-products, report to Congress under the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005, Washington D.C. last accessed 2009 23, October http // www.epa.gov/waste/hazard/wastetypes/wasteid/downloads/rtc-meth.pdf... 

Because the pseudoephedrine (Problem 2.18) in Sudafed can be readily converted to the illegal, addictive drug methamphetamine, products that contain pseudoephedrine are now stocked behind the pharmacy counter so their sale can be more closely monitored. Sudafed PE is a related product that contains a decongestant less easily converted to... 

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