Clandestine Chemists

How does a person generally wind up in this position? I doubt there's anyone going into their undergrad years with the intention of getting an organic chemistry degree for the sake of illegal drug synthesis, so how do they make their way there? What are the inroads and opportunities that come up along the way that leads someone to this line of work, I'd imagine a hell of a lot of it is just knowing the right people, but I don't know how you would even begin to get turned on to the right people to uncover an organization that needs cooks.

I remember hearing, and this would make sense, that university faculty will occasionally hear of some of their graduate students being approached by members of illicit organizations to cook for them, it all sounds literally like some shit out of Breaking Bad in the way Gus found Gale to cook for him, giving out chemistry scholarships and the like to draw in a promising young individual willing to get his hands dirty. I feel like this would be a dream come true for individuals that love risk


Comments


[3 Points] doireallyneedanewact:

Some could probably get by with a high school level AP chemistry class. My old chemistry teacher from over ten yrs ago recently told me she retired because she realized she was teaching her students to make meth. Students would ask obvious questions, she would hear them whispering about it, it seemed to be their motivation at times for class, and she just couldnt do it anymore. She was an awesome teacher too, its kind of a shame. Meth is pretty huge in my area so it doesn't surprise me one bit and this was all talked about after I mentioned finding a lab in the woods not too far from her home.


[3 Points] None:

I have a Ph.D in chemistry, and I currently work as a consultant in phama. It's crossed my mind more than a few times to experiment. I have a fantastic education and background, and I possess lab skill.

What I also have is a lot of common sense. It's not worth for me. I am hardly Walter White teaching HS chemistry and worrying how to support my family when I die; (I am a single female without kids) - I am paid a healthy salary, but I admit that I am a bit of a hedonist, and I like money and what I can do with it. I vacation frequently and am a dual citizen of two countries and am able to live in whichever one has the nicer weather that season. I have a couple expensive hobbies, and I like going places and having adventures. I like having nice clothes and my euro car, and I can sit on my balcony and watch the tide come in and go out. Having more money would allow me to do more of that.

But I like my life more. I like my social life. I like meeting my friends at happy hour and bitching about work. I like talking to my teenage nieces and nephews about my career and other options that interest them. I like being part of the world that I would have to drop out of in order to do that sort of thing. Again, I'm a girl and kind of a wimpy one. I did my mandatory two year in the military -- in a technical post -- and I don't feel like any sort of a badass because I can field strip and reassemble an Uzi in the amount of time a regular guy can tie his necktie neatly.

There's a false notion of what a clandestine chemist life is, and it's inaccurate. I've washed a few 8balls of coke for friends a couple times. I made a canna wedding cake. I used to CWE my norco and make knoxblocks out of it. I fucked around a little bit with synth of steroid for an old boyfriend who was a hardcore bodybuilder.

Shit like that.

But the risk or my lack of belief in my skills weren't what prevented my interest. Drugs are social to me and I never wanted them to be my life. I used to be hardcore into EDM and the festival scene. I lost count of the number of people who have offered me their basements and financial or lab-assistant help if I would synthesize. And I will be honest and admit I have been tempted. It would be easy money and I like my reputation as "the smart girl."

But I know I would become someone else. Antisocial and paranoid. And a perfectionist. I like my life as it is, and I don't see enough appeal in becoming that person.

I have (had, really) a friend who did start making MDMA. He was never caught, and he was good. He doesn't really roll, so for him it really was trying to be Heisenberg. But he quit for the reasons I listed. He just didn't enjoy it. And when he quit, people lost interest in his friendship, and it hurt him, badly. He realized that before he got into it he was one of the group. But people started expecting it, and expecting super deals "since we are all friends" and when he stopped, he felt completely shunned.

He actually moved away a few months later. We are still in touch and even 3-4 years later he still brings up how much he regrets it.

He is also a legit chemist like I am. And truthfully many drugs aren't that hard to synth, but I saw a lot of truth in breaking bad abot how Walt, just as a matter of pride, wanted to do it RIGHT. When I did washes, my first attempt at 7g didn't come out as well as I knew it could. So I paid my own money - iirc 450 as coke was pricey in my city at the time to buy two more 8 balls just to get it right.

I am sure there are lots of people with the right mindset and who really do have the skils. You don't need the education I have. A year of gen chem to get the lab skill and a second year of OChem to get a better idea of the mechanisms is more than enough. I believe that there are tons of amazing basement chemists who I have forgotten more than theh ever learned, and I am positive they create fantastic product. I will never say it should be left to the "professionals."

But I think there are far more people like me, who just don't want to get in that deep. What those people have that I lack is the most important factor - passion. And I think the system works better this way.


[2 Points] TeslaBenzo:

If you can really cook and aren't using you can start your own organization.


[2 Points] ljjklkjlk:

My chemistry teacher with a doctorates has been fired from his job 3 times before, and just got fired from my school for hooking up with a student.

He also lives in tennessee, the meth capital. I do believe he is going to start making meth soon as he probably cant get any other job. This is how it starts.


[1 Points] doxxthrowaway:

I would say prison is probably a good way to get tied up with meth cooks in particular. There are plenty of cooks who want to teach their methods/recipes.


[-2 Points] None:

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