Sciencemadness Discussion Board

How to Know What's Legal?

JnPS - 17-8-2016 at 17:33

I know well enough that attempting to synthesize any form of hard drug (MDMA, Meth, etc...) is stupid and dangerous so I won't be doing anything of that sort, BUT...

How do you know whether something is illegal to possess? I'd like to know if there is somewhere I can go to double check these things. (Where it is/isn't, reprecussions, legal amounts, etc...)

I'm under the impression that a large amount of chemicals are considered controlled substances or illegal to possess precursors to god knows what, and can result in potential hassles with law enforcement. My home lab is fairly new, I've only been doing work for maybe 3 or 4 months now, mainly harmless simple organic syntheses and a few chemical extractions. I'm concerned because I have a small amount of iodine crystals for grignards and am looking forward to more complex reactions in the future.

Should I be worried?

Arg0nAddict - 23-8-2016 at 00:10

A good rule of thumb is if you can make a scheduled drug with one or two steps it's considered a precursor but even those are not illegal unless they can prove intent I think because iodine is at the top for no no chems but can be bought anywhere even amazon or ebay then you have phossy which is near impossible until recently. Seems that their monitoring of listed chems is slipping or maybe they noticed all the meth comes from Mexican super labs now for the most part or back pack cooks in the forest that are few and far between.

If your house is search and you have a lot of chems the first thing they will say is you're making explo's because even a non chemists house has the right chems so that will give them reason enough to take it all and test for residue if you have a grungy lab with big balloons and syringes then they will say meth cook.

Purely a guess. I just don't show anybody or even tell anyone because chemistry is a taboo in today's culture. Like screwing your cousin. People will look at you the same way, like wtf?

myristicinaldehyde - 23-8-2016 at 04:49

Quote: Originally posted by Arg0nAddict  
... then you have phossy which is near impossible until recently. Seems that their monitoring of listed chems is slipping


Where is red p. available? You certainly can't buy it the same way you buy iodine.

NEMO-Chemistry - 27-8-2016 at 07:24

Quote: Originally posted by Arg0nAddict  
A good rule of thumb is if you can make a scheduled drug with one or two steps it's considered a precursor but even those are not illegal unless they can prove intent I think because iodine is at the top for no no chems but can be bought anywhere even amazon or ebay then you have phossy which is near impossible until recently. Seems that their monitoring of listed chems is slipping or maybe they noticed all the meth comes from Mexican super labs now for the most part or back pack cooks in the forest that are few and far between.

If your house is search and you have a lot of chems the first thing they will say is you're making explo's because even a non chemists house has the right chems so that will give them reason enough to take it all and test for residue if you have a grungy lab with big balloons and syringes then they will say meth cook.

Purely a guess. I just don't show anybody or even tell anyone because chemistry is a taboo in today's culture. Like screwing your cousin. People will look at you the same way, like wtf?


With my cousin even other people get the WTF look after screwing her....

The question of legal or not is difficult, each country has different laws. In europe for example the rules are meant to be the same for each country, but each country seems to enforce/implement them differently.

I think if you have ANYTHING you have ANY doubts about, then research for your jurisdiction and ask.

I have also phoned up Fischer scientific in the recent past, and just asked if x chemical had any restrictions on sale or possession.

They didnt ask if i was a company or individual but did give me the rules for conc Nitric Acid, including the bit about individuals needing a license.

I wouldnt hesitate to call and ask them in the future, no eyebrows get raised they were very professional.

stoichiometric_steve - 28-8-2016 at 07:06

Quote: Originally posted by NEMO-Chemistry  

With my cousin even other people get the WTF look after screwing her....


i did LOL very hard.

KesterDraconis - 2-9-2016 at 08:50

I'm also a bit worried about this recently since I'm wondering what I can actually talk about to my classmates in regards to previous synthesis I have done. Case in point- hydrazine. Its not too hard of a synth, but its fun to talk about and can definitely have its difficulty in a home lab setting. However, simple google searches will not tell me if hydrazine is legal to possess. I mean, Nitromethane and mercury are both legal to own, and nitro is more explosive/reactive on the NFPA than Hydrazine. Mercury has the same health risk rating as well. So, would that make Hydrazine ok as well, or is there something special? Obviously, there could be, since its illegal to own nitroglycerin, which is explosive like nitromethane (though more sensitive).

Its hard to tell.

Magpie - 2-9-2016 at 12:16

If you can't find that something is illegal, then it's legal - right? Didn't the novel "1984" state that only things specifically legal were legal, everything else is illegal?

semesa - 2-9-2016 at 12:59

Australia and many other countries have some form of analogs law/amendment disagree. Funnily, the USA variety was passed in 1986, so the novel can still be historically accurate :P.

chemrox - 2-9-2016 at 15:05

Quote: Originally posted by myristicinaldehyde  
Quote: Originally posted by Arg0nAddict  
... then you have phossy which is near impossible until recently. Seems that their monitoring of listed chems is slipping


Where is red p. available? You certainly can't buy it the same way you buy iodine.

I have a lb. No issues buying it but I do have a precursor license. Easy enough to get. Don't ask to buy any though; I like having my license.