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From: jmt0165@u.cc.utah.edu (Jon Taylor)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Review of Loompanics drug books
Date: 8 Feb 1994 13:13:13 -0700
Message-ID: <2j8rop$ru6@u.cc.utah.edu>


	I just got an order in from Loompanics, and I thought I'd share my
thoughts on the books that I got, and how I would rate them based on a
letter grading system.  These were:

* Getting started in the illicit drug business
* Recreational drugs: a complete guide to manufacturing
* Secrets of methamphetamine manufacture
* The construction and operation of clandestine drug labs, and
* E for ecstacy

1. Getting started in the illicit drug business
	This rather thin book is a basic guide on how to be a drug dealer.
It covers dealing in pot, cocaine, and (oddly enough) quaaludes.  It is
set in a slightly larger-than-normal and rather annoying looking typeface. 
Topics covered include dealing with customers, avoiding the police,
setting up a 'goon squad', and various others.  All in all, though, a
rather small, superficial and not very worthwile book.
Grade: D

2. Recreational drugs: a complete guide to manufacturing
	This book covers the manufacture of most kinds of recreational
drugs, as well as showing how to make/buy labware, precursors, and other
useful stuff.  Unfortunately, most of the book is indecipherable Ochem
gobbeldygook, rendering the synthesis descriptions hard to follow.  There
is very little attempt made to simplify the syntheses, and one gets the
feeling that most of the information was copied verbatim from the patents
or journal articles, the authors' statements of experience in running an
illicit lab notwithstanding.  Granted, some chem knowledge is definitely
necessary when attempting complicated organic syntheses, but somehow Uncle
Fester managed to put all that information into his book (see below)
without adding the pompous, irritating feel to his book that 'Professor
Buzz' has added to his.  Nevertheless, if one is prepared to wade through
all of that, there is a lot of very useful information contained in this book.
Grade: C+

3. Secrets of methamphetamine manufacture
	This was one of the best of the lot.  The syntheses are explained
in detail, LOTS of alternate routes for most every step are given, and one
gets the distinct impression that the author has a lot of firsthand
experience with this subject.  This is the third edition, which came out
in print mere days before I ordered it.  New topics in this edition
include making speed from ephedrine, making ice, expanded precursor
syntheses, and the manufacture of your friend and mine, methcathinone. 
All in all, a very well-written, comprehensive and easy-to-read book.
Grade: A

4. Construction and operation of illicit drug labs
	This one was also good.  Although not very long, the author
manages to cover the subject of setting up and running a lab quite
thouroughly.  As with the above book, the author sounds like he knows the
subject he writes about from personal experience.  Topics covered include
picking a location, construction, dealing the product, packaging, and
buying and making glassware and other equipment.  No specific syntheses
are covered as the author explicitly states that this is outside the scope
of the book, but what the book does cover, it covers well.
Grade: B+

5. E for ecstacy
	This is supposedly the most comprehensive and well-written overview of
Ecstacy currently on the market.  It covers most anything one would want
to know about the drug in a manner somewhat similar to the way my FAQ
does.  However, the rather unscientific way in which it goes about it is
(at least to me) a little unsatisfying.  This is particularly odd for a
book that has as many references and footnotes as this one does -
practically every sentence has a superscript tacked onto it.  Most of the
book consists of anecdotal information, personal quotes, news clippings,
and the author's own ruminations.  The bibliography is very extensive and
well-organized, probably because it was written by Alexander Shulgin and
not the author himself.  The organization of the book is very confusing,
there being very little rhyme or reason to the layout.  The bibliography,
for example, comes before several other sections that I would think
should normally come before it in such a book.
	To add to the mess, the cover of the book is a *VERY* annoying sparkly
rainbow diffracting mirrorlike sustance which is quite distracting.  In
conclusion, this book does have a lot of interesting info, but I do not
consider it to be a very worthwhile overview.  The impression I get of the
author, if you'll pardon the editorializing, was of an aging british
hippie-type that got heavily into Ecstacy and started obsessing about it to
such a degree that he felt the need to write a book about it, but did not
have the skills to do so in an organized and structured way.  Why in god's
name Sasha Shulgin donated that lovely bibliography to this disorganized
mess of a book is beyond me.  If you buy this book, be prepared to do a
lot of slogging.
Grade: C
	
	Bear in mind that these are only my opinions.  People who have
more, less or different knowledge of the subjects in these books may think
of them differently than I have - as always, YMMV.

	-Jon