# Lithium batteries used to make methamphetamine



## powernoodle

I did not know until recently that the "nazi method" of manufacturing methamphetamine uses the lithium strips taken from CR123 and other lithium batteries. The other three ingredients are ether, pseudo-ephedrine, and anhydrous ammonia.

I worked on a case recently where the badguy was found to have a lithium battery in his pocket. He claimed that it was for his flashlight. But since the cops had observed him in going in and out of a clandestine meth lab, he ended up getting 10 years in the pokey.

I wouldn't be surprised if the restrictions currently in place on the sale of cold medications containing pseudo-ephedrine (in some jurisdictions) migrate to the sale of lithium batteries.

In one tv story, it was reported as follows:

"The state of Missouri already restricts how much pseudoephedrine a person can buy at one time. However, there's no regulation on lithium batteries, another key ingredient to make meth. Russ Jones manages Battery Outfitters and runs into meth addicts trying to buy lithium batteries. "Generally if they pay with cash, and they're twitching a little bit, I like to ask them for an ID." But that's a store policy. No law exists in Missouri for it.

"It's easy to get this ingredient to make meth. Just go to any cellular phone store and buy a lithium battery. Sid Conklin of the Missouri Highway Patrol says most retailers do cooperate to help curb the meth problem. He says, "Lithium batteries is a needed ingredient in one of the formulas in making meth and a lot of retailers have restricted the sale of that by putting those batteries behind the counter where a customer would have to ask for them specifically."

Full story here.

Don't know what the moral of this story is. Just found it interesting. 






_Powernoodle's secret underground meth lab. Must . . .stop. . . twitching._ 

best regards


----------



## Beamhead

Thats all we need...is to have "Tweekers"/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/xyxgun.gif cause some knee-jerk politcians to restrict our ability to buy cells for our beloved lights! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif


----------



## Finbar

I saw that segment on tv tha other day. There is a effort going to schedule Sudafed to Class V. Great, a bunch of hop-heads mess it up for everyone else.

Sudafed is the only OTC that helps me.

Oh yea, that twitching can be caused by looking directly at a fired-up LED. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif

Psst, need some lithiums...yea, I can get ya some lithiums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sssh.gif

Fin


----------



## Mags

I hope that those meth addicts just dont find online 123 retailers.


----------



## Fat_Tony

Hi Powernoodle. Please forgive my naivete, but when you say the "nazi method", am I correct in assuming that you mean that neo-nazis use this method to produce methamphetamines? Just curious. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif Thanks.


----------



## revolvergeek

Quoted from http://www.prescottaz.com/meth/danger.htm.


"Pseudephedrine allows manufacture of methamphetamine using the "Nazi method," so-called because it was first used by Germany during World War II. The Nazi method produces relatively pure meth very quickly - in about three hours, compared to ephedrine reduction, which takes several days. "


----------



## Fat_Tony

Oh. Thanks revolvergeek.


----------



## greenLED

It p***s me off to be treated like I'm some low-life drug dealer every time I buy my allergy meds. The whole "may I see your ID" {heavy censorship for foul language}. Excuse ME, but I am a law-abding citizen with bad allergies and messed up sinuses (even after surgery).

Who ever thought asking for ID would stop people from making meth couldn't find their heads even if they were stuck... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif If they wrote down my ID number *and* kept a centralized DB of how much Claritin-D I buy they *might* accomplish something, but... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

What next, show ID to buy toilet paper!!??

Thank you, I had to get that out of my system, carry on...


----------



## BentHeadTX

Hmmmmm,
Soooo, if you use lithium batteries by the dozen... use the $1.25 each online specials and sell them to a methhead to by "recycled". I bet one could get more money for a dead lithium than it costs to buy a new one! Woohoo! 

Something tells me after a lithium battery is used, it won't work correctly though. <BTW, the above is called humor... just a joke> Then again, would methheads go dumpster diving at the police station to fish out worn out 123a lithium batteries?


----------



## Mags

I do think it is ridiculous to go to all that trouble and probably not stop any meth users and producers. Uh oh, what if they somehow add a twistpackage to buying 123s offline? like a proof of innocence card, or something that makes it a pain in the @$$ just to buy 123s for cheap?

Benthead, isnt meth really addictive? I mean, its easy to produce, and if something is addictive, you probably would do anything to get your hands on it. I dont really know much about meth actually. I jsut saw on the news that its easy to produce with household products and is dangerous in a way. but if its a drug, its probably addictive.


----------



## powernoodle

Its said to be extremely addictive. But not as addictive as flashlights.


----------



## Topper

Seems like a real waste of power. Better to use them in flashlights. If anyone gets over paranoid about thier personal 123 stash then send them to me I will "dispose" of them for you free of charge /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


----------



## MichiganMan

[ QUOTE ]
*powernoodle said:*
Its said to be extremely addictive. But not as addictive as flashlights. 

[/ QUOTE ]

See? 

SEE???

And whats the connection between the two...? 

LITHIUM BATTERIES!!!!!

Yes yes, it all makes sense now...


----------



## gorn

Does this mean my ARC is a gateway flashlight?

I'd better head to flashlight rehab immediately!


----------



## DaFiend

In Australia we have the "Pseudo-Runners" going up and down the coast stocking up on sudafed etc, but thats to manufacture Speed i'm pretty sure. We are pretty lucky here, we missed the "crack" explosion of the 80's (it was then wasn't it?) Crystal meth, meth or "ice" is sadly apparently starting to make an appearance here. I doubt we will this outbreak........

Thats stuff send people crazy for days after..........


----------



## PhotonWrangler

Gads. What a waste of a good battery!

*Make photons, not meth.* /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


----------



## The_LED_Museum

Pseudoephedrine (like Sudafed and Wall-Fed) is already controlled in Washington.
I'd hate to see what might happen to CR123A, CR2, and L91 cells. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif


----------



## Mags

[ QUOTE ]
*PhotonWrangler said:*
Gads. What a waste of a good battery!

*Make photons, not meth.* /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif 

[/ QUOTE ]
HAHA that should be a slogan for batteries!


----------



## theepdinker

My dog has allergies.
I can buy one weeks worth of sudafed for her at a time.
What a PITA.
I could buy a months supply of the vet version at one time, for $100.00.

Theepdinker


----------



## tvodrd

Disassembling a fresh 123 is asking for an instant fire! We're talking "Darwin Award" material. A lot of meth labs are discovered by Fire Departments responding. Appearantly very flammable chemicals like ether are also involved.

Larry


----------



## gadget_lover

[ QUOTE ]
In Australia we have the "Pseudo-Runners" going up and down the coast stocking up on sudafed etc, but thats to manufacture Speed i'm pretty sure. We are pretty lucky here, we missed the "crack" explosion of the 80's (it was then wasn't it?) Crystal meth, meth or "ice" is sadly apparently starting to make an appearance here. I doubt we will this outbreak........

Thats stuff send people crazy for days after.......... 



[/ QUOTE ]

Meth is very adictive. My niece's husband has been fighting it for years. I messes up your head permanently, causing wierd personality changes and other fun things. He'd abandoned his wife and child 10 times before she finally divorced him. He's averaging 1 job every 2 months for the last 2 years. He gets straight, gets a job, gets wired, gets violently paranoid and gets fired.

Meth is a form of speed, and is probably why the "Pseudo-Runners" are buying it.

Daniel


----------



## tvodrd

My brother's Ex's brother died a week later, after burns suffered in his "lab's" explosion. Burns really suck- I've been driven to the ER 3 times, all serious enough for a shot of demerol. (pyro-related and I don't play with that stuff anymore. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) I didn't know him, but he was a homeowner and "upright citizen."

Larry


----------



## raggie33

it realy upsets me .some darn drug adicts ruins it for us all.


----------



## mckevin

Easy (though fairly risky) to make. Several years ago I took a meth class for some recertification hours & one of the things the instructor mentioned that I thought was interesting is that (at that time), fully half of the labs they found were found because they blew up. When you are cooking Coleman fuel, any mess-up can be a bad one.

If anyone is seriously talking about regulating lithium battteries I have never heard of it, but I can guarantee that if you walk out of Wal-Mart with enough to get their attention, they WILL call L.E. One night a year or so ago, I needed (honest) some camera batts (lithium) and some gas line anti-freeze, damn near got arrested...


----------



## AnotherDaveH

Colman fuel, brake cleaner, acetone, etc. all have BOOM written all over them. I get the impression that most of these labs are run by users who are willing to take the risk to get their next fix, as well as keeping their customers supplied. I live in "meth central" (Riverside Co. California) and this stuff really scares me. Long term abuse tends to make people very agressive and violent, in addtion to the lab hazards. I hear HAZMAT being toned out about once a week on my scanner to deal with these guys.

Dave, RPh (ret)


----------



## Frangible

I think the war on drugs is kinda dumb, wouldn't be surprised to see restrictions on batteries soon. I'd never do a hard drug like meth, that's a dark road I don't ever wish to walk. But already the soon-to-be-passed federal law restricting pseudoephedrine is going to annoy me. I like PSE a lot, I have bad allergies and it really helps clearing my nose, and due to its dopamine reuptake inhibition it also greatly lengthens the effects of the dopamine release of caffeine which helps me focus at work when I need to get stuff done. Oh well I guess.


----------



## Negeltu

Yeah .. I have to use pseudoephedrine to sleep sometimes because of swelling in my nose. It helps me breathe through my nose so I can sleep. Here in Oregon you have to show your ID and have someone get it for ya. It really sucks.


----------



## Sigman

I heard Michael Moore is doing a movie on this subject? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


----------



## gessner17

In Iowa, you can only buy 2 boxes at a time, but you can walk right back in and buy another 2 and so on.


----------



## gessner17

double post


----------



## chipper

sorry to go off topic but gessner17 is that your weimeraner?
He's a spitting image of how mine looked when he was a puppy.


----------



## gessner17

Yep, she was a stray I picked up, she is now 50LBS, actully goin under the Knife tomw to get fixed.


----------



## tiktok 22

I live here in farmland central. The Drug busts for Meth manufacturing around here unbelievable. They actually caught a guy driving away holding a bucket of anhydrous out his window!!!!!! It's a wonder he isn't dead. These nutcases actually try to tap tanks in the field to get this stuff. Crazy!!


----------

