The problem with many of these 'laws' and editorials about these laws is that the people who write the editorials really don't know much about the legal system and will only take one or two lines from the entire legal code and spout off on it. Over at another forum, I recently got into a debate with someone over the purchasing of Red Phosphorus. He replied by giving a snippet of a law that is posted on a DEA website which makes it seem like purchasing red phosphorus is illegal and will get you arrested. He also claimed that purchasing it will get you watched by the government.
If you look at the ENTIRE law that is written, you'll see that there is absolutely no place where it says that it's illegal to posess the chemical and trying to buy it will get you arrested. It simply states the following:
1): Those who work with and sell large amounts of Red/White Phosphorus and Hypophosphorus acid/salts must keep a record of where that phosphorus is. I.E. they need to know how much they have at all times.
2): Those who deal with the phosphorus and the compounds must be registered with the government.
3): When a sale is made of the phosphorus/compounds, information about the transaction must be documented. (Nowhere does it say that it has to be reported).
4): The phosphorus compounds can be sold to anybody as long as it is for an end/use. I.E. you can't buy ten pounds of the stuff and then sell it to other people without a license.
So the only thing the government is doing is saying that when you sell the phosphorus/compounds, you have to database whom it was sold to and how much. This is not 'watching' you nor is it saying that it's illegal. All the government is doing is keeping a database for evidence purposes. If someone who's been buying red phosphorus and ephedrine gets busted for methamphetamine production, they'll have proof of the purchasing as evidence for conviction.
Further into all the CFR documents, you'll read that you can possess all the chemicals you want for the production of drugs/bombs as long as you aren't knowingly obtaining them for that purpose. You are allowed to have almost any chemical on earth as long as you aren't attempting to do something illegal with it. Sadly, when an editorial is written, the part about 'knowingly possessing them for said use' is omitted from the quote, and all you read is 'It's illegal to possess'.
If you aren't doing anything illegal, then you have nothing to worry about. If you are doing something illegal, then I have no sympathy for you.
As a side note, there are two chemicals I know of which are illegal to posses. One can only be possessed if you have a license, and the other is just not allowed to be had. Anhydrous ethanol that is not denatured cannot be possessed without a license. This is due to the fact that you can drink the stuff and there is a mandatory alcohol tax which is applied to any drinkable alcohol. The anhydrous stuff has no tax on it, so it's incredibly cheap. As a result, the government doesn't want you buying it and selling it as tax-free alcohol. The other chemical is diethyl amine and that's because there is no other use for diethyl amine aside from LSD production. Any other reaction that it would be used in can be accomplished with other chemicals in the same manner. For LSD production, however, ONLY diethylamine would work.
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Topic: The Decline of Home Chemistry (Read 216260 times)