Sir,
I am posting this to you, because it is my first-ever message to Internet.
Please bear with me. I am hoping that my message will find general
distribution.
On Jan. 1 I went to a flea market where there happens to be a fellow, retired
>From Fisher Scientific, who sells chemical labware. I asked about Erlenmeyer
and Florence flasks and was quite astonished to find that one cannot legally
buy or possess these items, as well as pyrex beakers and condensors, without a
permit from the Department of Public Safety (DPS).
I called DPS the following Monday (Jan. 3) and spoke to a narcotic officer who
confirmed the existence of this law. It is incorporated into Chapter 41 of the
Texas Controlled Substances Act, was supported by law enforcement and passed
with ease.
Because I was chuckling and saying things like "Dear Lord" and "You really
support this law" to the officer, he felt the need to explain the rationale to
me three times, as well as lie about its effects. As you can imagine, it is
targeted at amphetamine labs and the officer said that this "crackerjack"
statute had ELIMINATED amphetamine labs in Texas. Impressed, I repeated "It
*eliminated* them." "Well, not exactly, he said."
1.) You can cross the state border into Louisiana and buy all the proscibed
items and whatever quantity your wallet will bear.
2.) If I did make meth I'd have a chem lab to put Paul Chu to shame and I'd be
as worried about this statute as a street gang is about the Brady Bill.
I am writing my state legislators to have the law overturned. I stand little
chance against the DPS. I violated one of my own rules when speaking to the
narc: never, ever, ever try and discuss ethics with a police officer. I thus
made the mistake of saying "the state has no business violating people's rights
just to enforce the law" (unless they are the crooks, of course). I got the
stock thought-stopper I've gotten from every Texas police officer I've spoken
with: "Well, I'm not as liberal as you." [Conservatives will be interested to
hear that individual rights are solely a liberal concern.]
Whatever...the law is offensive. I want to do hobby chemistry without being a
felon. I'm telling the local papers that I will settle for a 5-day "cooling
down" period so that no one goes to a pawn shop in a fit of rage and just picks
up a Pyrex beaker (and people can still get test tubes - OH MY GOD!). Perhaps
a "toys for flasks" campaign is in order. For $100 a pop I'll turn in all the
$2 beakers the state can warehouse.
Pardon me if I wax pompous, but this it is just as much a problem engendered by
the inactivity of the chemical industry and professional organizations, always
whining about science education while leaving hobbyists in the cold and rolling
over evertime the DEA orders it to. Here's a new bumpersticker for politically
inert industrial and scientific societies: "They'll get my Erlenmeyer Flask
when....well, when they ask for it. Please don't hurt me officer."
Cordially,
David.Richards at Atomiccafe.com
