Isn't it PMMA that is made with Anise(Anethole)?
Check out this post i found on BL from 2003
phase_dancer
Safrole is very often used as a starting material when synthesizing MDMA from scratch. Even MDMA synthesized from MDP2P ( see thread and the x-scores came from (
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85727&r=27) ) usually contains safrole as a major impurity (0.1 -1.0%)
Impurities in Commercially available MDP2P (
http://rhodium.ws/chemistry/mdp2p.impurities.html)
Although pure MDMA crystal should have no smell, many pills and powders seem to smell of safrole. Even though very small amounts may pass through some processes as unreacted safrole, most undoubtedly comes from contamination.
If the smell is more like cardamon, it is indicative of the presence of the ketone (MDP2P), the unreacted precursor to MDMA and a chemical that eats through plastic! But levels are likely to be very low, even if the smell is noticable.
During a fully legit, authorized University project involving determination of safrole levels in Camphor Laurel, a flask containing safrole and solvent was on a rotary evaporator (to suck off the solvent). Everything was going smoothly when disaster struck. A shitty vacuum line gave out, the flask was flung about, and the contents liberally distributed across the bench, up the walls, over the floor and all through the rotary evap.
A year later when back at Uni, I ran into the lab assistant who remarked that he never want's to smell, camphor, safrole, aniseed or anything vaguely resembling THAT FUCKING SMELL again!!! Ever since the spill, anytime anyone turns on his precious rotary evap. THAT SICKLY SMELL is everywhere!!
So the smell of safrole really sticks around. It wouldn't take much at all for something just sitting in a room of sassafras to smell of it.
Another not so pleasant thought is that safrole is intentionally added to pills, as people tend to relate the smell to good pills, which in principle is ridiculous, as the only real in-vivo bio-activity safrole has is as a liver toxin!
Another thing to look out for is that sassafras (85-90% safrole) may be added to pills containing essentially nothing in an attempt to fool a test. Safrole will react with Marquis and Mandelin, but the colours produced are dirty brown-black and nothing like those from a classic MDMA reaction.
As Dante mentioned, a licorice/ aniseed smell can indicate PMA, made from oil of anise. Therefore its good to get acquainted with the difference in smells from the starting materials.
MDMA - from safrole - smells like root beer
PMA - from anethole - smells like aniseed
See if you can buy a small bottle of sassafrass oil. Try your pet store - as a natural delouser, or an aromatherapy shop. Get some aniseed and compare the smells. Some people can pick between them easily, but some people just don't seem to be able to tell the difference.
I once got four similar smelling oils:
sassafras
anise
camphor root bark extract
refined camphor extract
3 people were blind folded and given the oils one at a time, being told what each was as they smelled them. Then they were each asked to smell a randomly selected oil. Only one person got all 4 correct and she said she guessed between sassafras and refined camphor extract.
BL archived thread:
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/archive/index.php/t-85803.html
