NOT SO SPEEDY NOW

Turning a popular hay fever remedy into methamphetamine or "speed"-- is
a common trick among the backstreet chemists who produce many illicit
drugs. Now Warner-Lambert of New Jersey has found a way to prevent
decongestant pills being used as a feedstock for speed by giving them a
new coating (WO 00/15261).

Pharmacists sell pseudoephedrine hydrochloride as an over-the-counter
decongestant for colds and hay fever. Drugs companies add "blocking"
chemicals that prevent the pills being turned into speed. But criminals
have learned how to extract the pure drug. Now Warner-Lambert has found
that a coating of amino polymer not only blocks the conversion to
speed, but standard extraction techniques cannot separate the additive.