US chemistry professors accused of making meth in university lab

[S.J.B.]

US chemistry professors accused of making meth in university lab
The Guardian
November 18th, 2019

Two chemistry professors in Arkansas are accused of making methamphetamine in a lab at their school.

According to a statement from the Clark county sheriff, Jason Watson, Terry David Bateman and Bradley Allen Rowland, of Henderson State University, were arrested and charged with manufacturing meth and use of drug paraphernalia.

The case gained international attention thanks to its echoes of the hit TV series Breaking Bad, in which Bryan Cranston played Walter White, a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher who made and sold meth on the side.

Read the full story here.

 

[Deleted member 521610]

Bloody hell sounds like they were making it for personal use. 8 years ago my ex work colleague who worked in comestic formulation as a research chemist got busted for cooking meth they seized his multi million dollar house he had from it and jailed for 14+ years.

 

[Nicomorphinist]

Then there was the chemist working on coatings for downhill skis at Morton Thiokol in Utah who was busted in 2008 for making etonitazene, the late Thomas K Highsmith . . . the MPTP guy in the 1980s, Barry Kidston, was a graduate student in medicinal chemistry as I recall. I wonder to what extent laboratory people and production, quality control, and management people and others at manufacturing plants eat the mistakes and/or dip into raw materials and work in process inventory. Once I saw a forklift driver moving a 50 kilo drum of dihydromorphine hydrochloride and it made my mouth water and spine itch . . . there it was right there with the Roman numeral I in a C for Schedule I controlled substance under the US Controlled Substances Act 1970. . . since it is a raw material for a number of other narcotics and narcotic antagonists, the DEA has a national aggregate annual production quota of several metric tons of DHM each year, and it is a lovely substance . . .

 

[kaosisallwesee]

I used to work in pharmaceutical formulation and it was common to see kg tubs of chloral hydrate, various benzodiazapines, midazolam and ketamine for veterinary supply, 300mg/ml ampules of morphine, so I can see how someone with the right access could fiddle the books and remove stock. It makes me wonder how people get that level of access though, because security was always really tight when it came to stock. Every milligram/millilitre and tablet had to be accounted for.