# "Check the PA" - comment on an OLD Straight Dope **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 3, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-the-pa-comment-on-an-old-straight-dope/759 "2000-03-03T01:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![technogamy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@technogamy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/technogamy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-the-pa-comment-on-an-old-straight-dope/759/1 "2000-03-03T01:25:00Z")
Regarding Cecil’s answer in [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_338b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_338b.html) … “PA” in “check the PA” = phenylacetic acid. See [http://www.law.emory.edu/11circuit/aug95/93-2392.opa.html](http://www.law.emory.edu/11circuit/aug95/93-2392.opa.html) (“This case arises out of a scheme to transport phenylacetic acid (“PA”), a listed precursor chemical[1]controlled substance.” 21 C.F.R. § 1310.01 (emphasis in original). See also 21 U.S.C. § 802(34)(H); U.S.S.G. § 201.11, comment. (backg’d.); 21 C.F.R. § 1310.02. used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, from Florida to Oregon.") It’s **NOT** pH, as you originally responded, my dear Cecil. (Of course, your answer was from 1990, and the case referenced is from 1995, so… [grin]) By the way – thanks for this site, and your column; I read the first Straight Dope when I was about 9 and it made my life much richer! GM ---
**Author:** ![Hennie\_Schaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dfb087/32.png) [@Hennie\_Schaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennie_Schaper)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-the-pa-comment-on-an-old-straight-dope/759/2 "2000-03-03T08:26:00Z")
I still think it is Pro Analysis… see an older thread that I started on this subject. * * * Don’t you know there ain’t no devil / That’s just God when he’s drunk (Tom Waits) ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-the-pa-comment-on-an-old-straight-dope/759/3 "2000-03-03T14:49:00Z")
No no, it’s the postal abbreviation for Pennsylvania. As in “Reg. PA Dept. of Agriculture.” You need to check if the Powers That Be in Harrisburgh have given their seal of approval on everything. Everybody knows that. * * * …but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-the-pa-comment-on-an-old-straight-dope/759/4 "2000-03-03T23:57:00Z")
Anyone else notice that in Cecil’s column he said, “Don’t ask silly questions”? But, but, what are we supposed to do? I thought Cecil answered the weird, the arcane (and chemical moles are pretty frikkin’ arcane–I get astrological nodes of the moon, moles are REALLY strange), the bizarre, the well, silly? I’m lost, now. (I thought PA stood for “public address,” but unless there’s a sound system involved, that’s not likely.) ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2000, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-the-pa-comment-on-an-old-straight-dope/759/5 "2000-03-04T00:19:00Z")
So in what way does a meth homebrewer “check the PA,” as mentioned in the original question?