What career would an aspiring drug chemist pursue?

Hello, I am wondering if this community could answer a hypothetical question. Let's say there is a person who is majoring in Chemistry and he has a desire to become a great drug chemist. His goals are to be able to synthesize MDMA, Methamphetamine, PCP, and most certainly LSD, amongst other drugs on a mass scale. LSD is something that this person is really interested in. While LSD is his real goal, he wants to be an overall drug chemist capable of synthesizing any drug he could ever want, like Oxycontin, Roxys, Heroin, Promethazine W/Codeine Syrup, etc. etc. This person may come across as an eccentric individual to most, and is just fascinated with drugs for whatever reason.

Now, this individual knows that in order to be a great drug chemist, one would probably have to specialize in the field of Organic Chemistry, and at least obtain a MS degree in the field. This degree wouldn't be required for everything this person wants to make, but LSD for sure. This person also knows that obtaining the lab equipment and precursors to partake in a career as a drug chemist is an impossible, almost daunting task. However, this person knows that there are careers out there that allow one to obtain access to the things he would need without arousing suspicion. The problem is this guy just doesn't know what these careers are and is in dire need for an answer.

This person isn't asking for someone to come out and give him a direct source, for that is wrong and is against the rules of this forum. This person is just a lost soul in college. He has a love for drugs and chemistry, and is majoring in the subject, but doesn't know what career he wants to pursue after he is finished with his schooling. He realizes that it may take a plethora of years before he will be able to become a drug chemist, and he is willing to put in the time and effort to become one because that is what he is really passionate about.

Imagine if a person like that really existed. They probably do have some crazy freak out there somewhere in the world who might be in this predicament. Man that's a scary thought isn't it? Wouldn't you want to help that guy out?

What career(s) would the community here suggest to this person? Should this guy go into Pharmaceutical Chemistry or Biochemistry for his MS or stick with his original idea of going for an MS in Organic Chemistry? Should he go for a doctorate in anything?

If this possibly imaginary person really existed he would need your help because he doesn't know where else to turn to. Could this community please post some suggestions as to what career paths this person would need to take and what areas of study he would need to focus on? This possibly imaginary person is in desperate need of some help. This guy might have mental issues but he might also be intelligent. He could be hopelessly searching the internet trying to find out what career path to take. Then again, this guy might not even exist at all.

Okay so I hope I didn't break any rules here. I just joined this forum like a half-hour ago and read over some rules and stuff so I think I'm good. If I posted something inappropriate then please let me know. Anyways, if all is good could the community here answer this hypothetical question that I have about this person who may not even exist?

 

We've got meth labs in the back woods of Georgia and it don't take much knowhow, (provided that such a person learns enough not to blow up his/her house and that of the neighbors).

By contrast, someone with the kind of talent and education you described could isolate anti-oxidants from tropical fruits, find medicinal plants and their active ingredients, come up with better drugs for diabetes, epilepsy or Parkinsons.

If you still want to take the ultimate chemical mind trip, definitely wait to finish grad school before starting that adventure.

 

haha i must be a mind reader, i totally got that vibe from you in your introduction post when you mentioned chemistry lol ive been thinking a lot about making acid, i really dont think itd be hard at all if you could give it a couple tries. i dont see why one would obtain "degrees" to make illegal substances though.... kinda dumb. lucy would def. be the one to mass produce, but on the other hand theres legal rcs which can be derived from mescaline? couldnt these be better then l? maybe idk

 

You totally seem like a drug tard..... No offence.

LSD, no biggie, but that meth, it's going to take a PhD or two before you can even begin the independent study or begin collecting the complex labware for THAT goal.

 

any dope can make that dope, seems the chemicals that take more of a challenge to make are more rewarding. i love a good challenge. now wouldnt rcs be easier to make then lucy? i think thatd be the place to start.. maybe with 25i ;p

 

Okay this guy who may exist may have read some stuff on the web about synthesizing safrole, methylamine, and pseudoephedrine from unwatched chemicals.

A man once read that safrole could be easily synthesized from Phenol in 3 easy steps, but he questioned the source. Then he read something on the internet about synthesizing safrole from unwatched chemicals but doesn't know if that method is up to date. The link to that source might be here: http://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/safrole.html

He might have also read something about how when methylamine is used to make methamphetamine, it drastically lowers its purity. He may have a lot of questions that need answering. He may be an uncertain fellow.

I am not a total drug tard, but this hypothetical guy we've been talking about...he probably is one. =P

And you speak the obvious...anybody can make LSD. It takes a real genius to make meth, or so I've been told.

Okay but let's say that this dude took Chemistry for the first time when he was 15 in high school...went to class stoned and slept through most of the class on a consistent day-to-day basis, but still made A's in the class. Let's assume this guy really doesn't care about life and doesn't want to work a mundane minimum wage job for the rest of his living days. Let's say that this guy chose to go to college because he didn't want to join the workforce so soon and he just wants to make a lot of money. Let's say that this guy goes to college and majors in Chemistry because it is somewhat interesting to him and it comes easily to him. This guy might be the type of person to just slide through Calculus 3 with ease, and Organic Chemistry wouldn't be that rough on him either. Really, none of his college, high school, or any courses he has ever taken have stopped his slippery-self from sliding through the amazing world of academia. You know RooRshack, I misspoke earlier when I said that this guy is probably a drug tard, he's starting to sound like a lubed-up dildo to me. =P

The forces tell me that this guy, if he exists, has a lot of friends that are way older than him. Some of them may be dope heads in their early 30s still living in their mom's house without a penny to their name and without a job to work. Some of them may be just starting to get their life together in their late twenties because they might have "accidentally" reproduced offspring and feel obligated to be "good" parents who may still associate with the drug culture, and therefore are not totally free of the grip the culture has on them. Some of these friends might be some big-time dope dealers who make lots of money and know how to move product. They may not even smoke or drink, they may even seem like normal people to the public, but they're really millionaires, or if they aren't they at least have 6 figures. You might say that these guys are what we would call "gangsters". They aren't flashy though. They're level-headed atypical "gangsters", some of which may have a criminal record as clean as a freshly dusted TV screen. This guy might see all these things happening around him and say to himself, "man, if someone could produce drugs on a massive scale under the nose of law enforcement, he could potentially sell the drugs wholesale to 'gangsters' and start a drug empire." This guy probably wouldn't be concerned about curing diabetes, epilepsy, or Parkinson's. His main concern would probably be to make a whole lot of money. This guy probably really admires William Leonard Pickard, and would like to pick up where he left off. This guy sounds like a real piece of work though. If this guy does exist out there, somewhere on this planet, he's probably really "throwed-off" in the head.

Btw, these forces are telling me that this possibly imaginary guy is still unsure of what career to pursue. He seems like the kind of person that would work an internship instead of attending summer school, but he doesn't even know which direction he should go in. It could be very possible that this guy would consider working for a pharmaceutical company, or trying to start his own chemical supply shop. If this guy is thinking this then he is probably unsure if working for a pharmaceutical company would give him access to anything he would need, and he would probably be unsure of just how you go about starting your own chemical supply warehouse.

May the Lord have mercy on this poor soul, for if he does exist, he would need it very much so. That and a glass of Holy Water.

Anyways, I hope I'm not turning schizophrenic. I hope these forces are indeed real. For if they aren't, I may end up in a mental hospital. =P

 

I had a relative in pharmaceutical sales, high income, but he liked sampling the merchandise so much that he got hooked some of it. Not sure if his mental illness was triggered by the "medicines" he took or it would have happened anyway. He spent the last 20 years of his life institutionalized. He was not in pain, all his needs were met, but his life shrank to the dimensions of a hospital bed and the high point of his day was getting wiped clean after he fouled himself and his bed. Not necessarily your fate, but hey... s*** happens!

 

Okay, okay, all jokes/sarcasm aside folks. I can see I'm coming across as an ***hole here. What would be a good career choice for this guy?

I was thinking maybe he should become a pharmacologist, since they get to work at the drug factories and do research and experiments with different research chemicals in an attempt to make new drugs and whatnot. I'm assuming that a pharmacologist would be able to get research chemicals without arousing any suspicion at all, since their profession is centered around making drugs from research chemicals in the first place. I wonder if pharmacologists could get pill presses without arousing suspicion?

Or maybe he could become a pharmaceutical chemist. I'm a little confused as to what's the difference between a pharmacologist and a pharmaceutical chemist. Don't they both do the same thing pretty much? I know a pharmacologist's salary is way higher than a pharmaceutical chemist's is. I'm pretty sure it requires more schooling as well. If someone could clear this up for me it would be a big help.

Then there's the option of running his own chemical supply warehouse. Hobart Huson did this, and he was able to do so after being convicted and sent to prison for manufacturing X. I'm a little confused as to how one would go about opening up their own chemical supply warehouse. Would he need to double major in chemistry and business?

Could you guys elaborate on these things or help me brainstorm some more? I've been doing some research and will continue to do so to see if I can come up with some more helpful tips for this guy.

Oh, and GardenGuy, I'm sorry to hear about that. I've been institutionalized myself 3 times. It's really hell in those institutions. The workers make fun of you and try to drive you nuts the whole time you're in there. Also, the first thing they try to give you at every institution is a drug called Geodon. They claim it is to make you calm down. Really it's a drug for schizophrenia, and if you're not schizophrenic, you will be after taking this medication. The withdrawals from it are similar to those of heroin. I had really bad withdrawals from it. Other people in the institution were going nuts off of it too. If any of you get sent to one of these places just refuse to take the Geodon, they can't make you take it and they will eventually give you something that won't make you go nuts. Just thought I'd share that piece of information with you guys so if you ever get sent to one of these places, or if anyone ever offers you Geodon, I would hope you wouldn't be stupid enough to take it.

On another note, I don't really have a clue as to how you would get into pharmaceutical sales, google may have the answers though. I shall see.

 

lots of good ideas Mech, youll find what to do.
did you know they used to put safrole in root beer? its also occurs naturally in many other plants...cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper..basil. wonder how much though. anyways honestly, youd make more of a positive impact if making psychedelics ;p
i like the chemical supply warehouse idea, but that is because i wouldnt want to do 6 years of school to become a pharmacologist.

 

Yeah I'm just not sure as to how one would go about opening up a chemical supply shop.

But on the other hand I just looked up 25i, since you mentioned it, and WOW...it can be bought on blotter paper already complexed and everything. I wonder if this guy knew this would he be able to buy the 25i and pass it off as acid? Cause this guy's friends might all want him to make LSD since he's a chem major, but they're mostly dopeheads who probably wouldn't know the difference between LSD-25 and 25i, for they have been without a source of it for so long. They just wanna trip, they're not going to chemically test the stuff. I've read up on it and it sounds like 25i is the "clone" of LSD.

Jaredfelix could you tell me me about this 25i stuff? Like if my hunches might be correct. And you know what I may just delve deeper into the world of psychedelics.

 

don't pass it off as acid, sell it as what it really is! don't be an asshole.

 

yeah you probably coulddd pass it off as acid. but that kind of..negative and i would never do it, instead i would convince people thats its better then L, and just derived from mescalin which is natural.. do to others what youd like them to do to you..id want to know what im taking, btw i really want to try lucy again to compare it more accurately to 25i because like seriously. its so fuckin good imp:

Glad to hear it =] i think its the only drug people should take, in moderation of course.. that and weed ;p
ive only become a better person... and more understanding

 

Okay I don't think he will be an a-hole and pass it off as acid, but is the stuff
2-(4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl]ethanamine
25I-NBOMe (NBOMe-2C-I, BOM-CI, Cimbi-5) complexed on an ion exchange blotter?

 

Oh and jaredfelix can you PM me? cause the system won't met me PM you.

 

Yes

 

You need more posts to send or receive a PM

 

Pickard's goal was obviously not to make a lot of money.

You seem to see drugs the same way all the ghetto kids see college and the nfl. Right before they go back to the ghetto.

If you admire people who have made a lot of LSD and lost everything for it, you need to take a lot more LSD, because making money in not why you do it.

If you want to make money, knock out half your teeth and go make meth. Or make friends with the mexican mafia. Either way, you'll have a merry life, and a short one.

The people who work with LSD and similar drugs wouldn't talk to you. If you sell a chemical that is not LSD as LSD, you deserve, and may receive, a severe beating.

Just because a chemical seems like another in a given dosage range, set, and setting, does not make it a "clone" of another, it's NOT a "clone" of LSD.

Basically, you're a wannabe "gangster", with a bunch of similar lowlife friends, and would think you're badass if you made some chump change off of other chumps. You think you know atypical gangsters who move weight because you went to college and realized your pot dealers are all working on their PhD's. Welcome to life, everyone likes drugs.

 

Get a masters in organic chemistry and go where it takes you, if that's what you're interested in

 

True, but as extension to what you said Pickard also turned his back on the family. His partner Skinner if I remember right was a bad guy, he was the type of guy the OP is, just in for the money and no morals. That is why he got caught, skinner sang like a bird to save his own ass. He steeped out of the network that would have taken care of him and had to associate with criminals like Skinner. Pikcard was also following a method that created somewhat dirty LSD, but he was making millions of hits at a time, so I guess he went quantity over quality. He was a millionaire, he was not poor from what he was doing.

But when you look at other examples of LSD chemists who were caught like say Nick Sand, what did he do? He did his time, and never threw anyone under the bus with him. I don't know that the OP has that kind of commitment to this, it could just be about money. Ask yourself that OP why do you want to do this? Because you believe that LSD is a sacred gift that the world needs shared, or simply because you think you can become rich.