# Why are meth labs so dangerous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692 "2005-03-03T02:41:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/21 "2005-03-03T17:44:40Z")
> [@Drum God](#): > > Okay, the ingredients for meth have always sort of fascinated me. I mean, here we’re tlaking about lithium batteries, ammonia, and a host of other chemicals that aren’t typically used in the body. How did the concept of combining this stuff come about? Is there (or was there) a legitimate use for methamphetamines? Meth has always seemed to me to be a drug with no positive effects and a long list of negatives. Why would one take it? Well, according to the “Nazi Meth” version, it was produced to help soldiers stay awake for extended periods. Long range bomber pilots probably could have used a touch, too. In practical applications, it can be used if you just need to drink a case of beer in a few hours and don’t want to get drunk. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/22 "2005-03-03T18:28:53Z")
> [@Drum God](#): > > Okay, the ingredients for meth have always sort of fascinated me. I mean, here we’re tlaking about lithium batteries, ammonia, and a host of other chemicals that aren’t typically used in the body. How did the concept of combining this stuff come about? Is there (or was there) a legitimate use for methamphetamines? Meth has always seemed to me to be a drug with no positive effects and a long list of negatives. Why would one take it? Amphetamines were discovered in the late 19th century, and first investigated heavily for a variety of medical uses in the 1920’s: [http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/amp01.htm](http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/amp01.htm) They are very powerful stimulants and appetite suppressants, and were marketed under the trade names benzedrine, dexedrine and methedrine. The latter is methamphetamine. They were used in benzedrine inhalers as a nasal decongestant and bronchial dilator, as “stay awake” pills and “diet pills”. The abuse problems became evident enough that they were outlawed in 1965. There is a history of use by several militaries to allow exhausted troops to keep fighting. Currently, it may be prescribed for ADHD or narcolepsy, and I imagine that it’s one of those prescriptions that is very closely monitored, and probably not written very often. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/23 "2005-03-03T19:14:35Z")
Beyond everything listed above, one of the things we were taught to be aware of when working around a lab is boobytrapping. Cookers aren’t the most ethical folks around, and have been known to steal one anothers goods. As such, if you don’t want a rival cooker to get the fruits of your labor, or would like to deal a bad card to Johnny Law, IEDs or other traps are rigged. Some of the stuff you see gives a healthy boost to pucker factor. ---
**Author:** ![Zach29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Zach29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zach29)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/24 "2016-08-22T02:32:27Z")
Despite the common perception that exists out there, a bunch of “chemicals” do not really present much of safety hazard. The danger exists almost entirely from people heating flammable liquids inside. That alone is the sole source of the fire/explosion danger. The health of children is also threatened when there are constantly solvent fumes in the air inside because there is not adequate ventilation. (again, this is basically just kerosene or paint thinner) So to summarize again, basically people who do not know what they are doing working with large amounts of flammable liquids inside. There have even been some cases where they were using a propane fueled stove indoors. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/25 "2016-08-22T02:37:46Z")
What gets me, is that I’m a pretty intelligent person (if I do say so myself). And yet… I haven’t a clue how to make meth, while many uneducated people seem to be able to do it without even blowing themselves up. ---
**Author:** ![Zach29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Zach29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zach29)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/26 "2016-08-22T02:42:50Z")
I wish people would stop having so much chemophobia (that’s fear of chemicals 🙂 ) and realize that these meth lab explosions are not caused by chemicals. :rolleyes: It’s simply flammable fumes building up inside. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/27 "2016-08-22T03:01:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What gets me, is that I’m a pretty intelligent person (if I do say so myself). And yet… I haven’t a clue how to make meth, while many uneducated people seem to be able to do it without even blowing themselves up. Can you follow a recipe? Because manufacturing meth isn’t much more complicated than baking a pie. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/28 "2016-08-22T03:05:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What gets me, is that I’m a pretty intelligent person (if I do say so myself). And yet… I haven’t a clue how to make meth, while many uneducated people seem to be able to do it without even blowing themselves up. Have you tried? I’m not going to google it but it would amaze me if there weren’t recipes all over the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/29 "2016-08-22T03:20:28Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Have you tried? I’m not going to google it but it would amaze me if there weren’t recipes all over the internet. Yeah… ECHELON, and all that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/30 "2016-08-22T04:02:30Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Have you tried? I’m not going to google it but it would amaze me if there weren’t recipes all over the internet. Oh, there are. The information was not all that hard to get even pre-Internet. 25 years ago when I was in pharmacy school, our professor told us the process (or one of them, anyway) and then said, “If you go out and purchase combinations of these chemicals in large amounts, the Feds will be on your tail, and when they find out you are a pharmacy student…” Unfortunately, knowing what I do now, I can think of several people in my class who might have taken advantage of that information, or passed it on to someone who wanted it. One of them is dead now, from ODing on stolen drugs. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/31 "2016-08-22T12:08:59Z")
> [@Zach29](#): > > Despite the common perception that exists out there, a bunch of “chemicals” do not really present much of safety hazard. They do when the chemicals in question are poisonous or carcinogenic, and as mentioned (11 years ago!) in this thread many of the chemicals involved are exactly that. This is especially true when the people producing those chemicals are making no effort to dispose of them properly. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/32 "2016-08-22T12:21:34Z")
> [@Zach29](#): > > I wish people would stop having so much chemophobia (that’s fear of chemicals 🙂 ) and realize that these meth lab explosions are not caused by chemicals. :rolleyes: > It’s simply flammable fumes building up inside. What, the fumes aren’t chemical now? **Nava** , Chemical Engineer ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/33 "2016-08-22T17:18:25Z")
> [@Zach29](#): > > I wish people would stop having so much chemophobia (that’s fear of chemicals 🙂 ) In my experience, people have far too little chemophobia. I work in the safety industry and people’s appalling casualness around dangerous chemicals and their willful ignorance about reading labels leads to all kinds of reportable incidents, injuries, and deaths. I’ve known many people who were shockingly incurious about the chemicals they were using or preparing to use, assuming that anything they can obtain (or find in an old shed) must be entirely safe to mis-handle, or the government would have outlawed it. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/34 "2016-08-22T18:38:03Z")
So in the _Breaking Bad_ show, they acquired a bunch of one chemical they needed by robbing it from a train. What was that? I guess it’s my impression that the limiting factor is the ephedrine, that’s why some allergy medications don’t sit on the shelf anymore. In the BB episode, what was it in the train car? Ephedrine on its way to the drug manufacturer? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/35 "2016-08-22T19:02:04Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Can you follow a recipe? Because manufacturing meth isn’t much more complicated than baking a pie. True, but if in baking a pie you use a variety of apples that contain slightly more water than average, you might just have some juice spill into your oven. If that juice were combustible/carcinogenic/etc then you’d be screwed. And if pie pans were difficult to acquire and the dimensions of the pan were important, maybe you’d be screwed. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/36 "2016-08-22T19:04:27Z")
IIRC, the train car was full of industrial quantities of methylamine. That’s one of the chemicals used in a synthesis method that does not use pseudoephedrine. Street “cooks” don’t use the methylamine synthesis usually, since you can’t get the starting material from normal retail channels. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/37 "2016-08-22T19:11:11Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > So in the _Breaking Bad_ show, they acquired a bunch of one chemical they needed by robbing it from a train. What was that? I never watched the show, but some googling says methylamine. (As an aside, Walt’s plan was to kill the crew of a freight train in interstate commerce?! :eek: This character is supposed to be an amoral genius, as I recall all the gushing over this show. Well, I see the amoral, but I ain’t seeing the genius. :rolleyes: Doing the crime the most bloody and spectacular way possible – blocking up a main\* railway line by killing a train crew – would bring in Federal authorities well above the DEA agents he’s used to dealing with. Definitely FBI, probably a multi-agency task force treating it like a homeland-security case. \*While the train was in dark territory, it was a through freight, not a local freight on a branch line, judging from the references to the methylamine traveling from Long Beach to the East.) ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/38 "2016-08-22T19:22:49Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > (As an aside, Walt’s plan was to kill the crew of a freight train in interstate commerce?! :eek: This character is supposed to be an amoral genius, as I recall all the gushing over this show. Well, I see the amoral, but I ain’t seeing the genius. :rolleyes: Doing the crime the most bloody and spectacular way possible – blocking up a main\* railway line by killing a train crew – would bring in Federal authorities well above the DEA agents he’s used to dealing with. Definitely FBI, probably a multi-agency task force treating it like a homeland-security case. \*While the train was in dark territory, it was a through freight, not a local freight on a branch line, judging from the references to the methylamine traveling from Long Beach to the East.) The crew was never harmed. The plan was to pull of the heist in such a way that no one would even know it happened, crew included. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/39 "2016-08-22T19:23:29Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > IIRC, the train car was full of industrial quantities of methylamine. That’s one of the chemicals used in a synthesis method that does not use pseudoephedrine. Street “cooks” don’t use the methylamine synthesis usually, since you can’t get the starting material from normal retail channels. It was part of the usual method of production before the FDA restricted P2P (phenyl-2-propanone, AKA phenylacetone) in 1980. In those days, much of the production and distribution of methamphetamine was controlled by the outlaw biker gangs - hence Hank’s reference to “old school biker meth” in the series. Walt synthesized his own P2P. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692/40 "2016-08-22T19:39:35Z")
When I hit “New Posts,” this thread showed up right above one titled, “My Nephew Can Cook!” 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-meth-labs-so-dangerous/292692.md?page=3)