Shake and Bake Meth: New way to make Meth Amphetamine (Faces of Meth photos and slideshow)

There’s a new way to make meth amphetamine, it’s called shake and bake meth and it uses a soda bottle. The new lab resembles that of a 5th grade science project, but this is no elementary school experiment. The shake and bake meth requires an empty two liter soda bottle, cold medicine in pill form, and chemicals. Shake and bake the ingredients in the bottle and you bypass the meth lab for an instantaneous, yet deadly high. With the shake and bake meth procedure, there is no need to use a flame.

Police officers and drug users alike understand the realities of the traditional meth lab. Chemicals, flammable liquids, and pills create foul odors and can produce explosive results. The dangers of meth labs extend well beyond the hazards of the addictive drugs they produce: the process of cooking meth is just as lethal. The new method produces just as dangerous meth amphetamine; however, drug users are opting for the shake and bake as it is simple, easy, and convenient. The method also requires less cold medicine, making it simpler to bypass laws and those who regularly flag contents being purchased in stores, such as cold medicine and batteries. The new shake and bake method is causing an increase in meth amphetamine use, after the nation was beginning to see these numbers decline.

Though the shake and bake meth procedure bypasses the flame, it isn’t without its deadly consequences, or risks of exploding. If oxygen is present in the soda bottle, a fireball can form as a result of the process and chemical mixture. Even something seemingly benign, such as opening the soda bottle cap too quickly can result in an explosion. When the soda bottle explodes, the burns are often more severe than with the traditional meth lab. This is due to the fact that the drug user is holding the bottle when it explodes, making it virtually impossible to escape the blast.

Another danger associated with the shake and bake method includes the aftermath. When meth users create the drug, they are after the white crystalline powder that forms after the chemical reaction. The sludge left inside the soda bottle is toxic. Many meth users simply toss their empty soda bottles on the ground.

As many states monitor the amount of pseudoephedrine that can legally be sold in a month, the new shake and bake method allows drug users to bypass those restrictions. They can legally enter a store, purchase pseudoephedrine for the sole purpose of making meth amphetamine, and never draw concerns as they are purchasing minimal amounts of the medication. This alone undermines much of the process made in the fight against meth amphetamine use.

Meth is a dangerous drug that's powerfully addictive.  The images in the slideshow below "Faces of Death" depict the ravaging effects meth can have on the human body.

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