THIS STORY IS FICTIONAL AND ANY RELATION TO ANY REAL LIFE EVENT IS COINCEDENCE

I needed acetone for a salvinorin A extraction, I had ordered some acetone on the internet and it came but someone in my house got it and hid it so I thought I never received it, but that is another story.

So I went from pharmacy to pharmacy in an area of central Scotland in search of acetone, they only sold it in 50ml bottles for something crazy like £3 a bottle. I asked a man of authority in a certain pharmacy 'Why doesn't acetone come in bigger bottles?', his reply was 'Well sometimes acetone is used for illicit purposes and you wouldn't want that.' and I said okay.

Anyway so I went to a different pharmacy and said 'I'll buy 5 50ml bottles of acetone please' and the pharmacist (for some reason pharmacists are ALWAYS women in Scotland, and I'm not exagerrating, I've been to something like 20 or more different Scottish pharmacys and all of the staff have always been women, no men) said 'Oh you're going to do it that way then.' She then offered to order in a 500ml bottle of acetone which I could pick up from the pharmacy the next morning for £5. I said 'Okay I'll do that'.

So I go back the next day and they ask me for my address which I write down and give to them. They then say 'Okay wait there', so I wait for ages and I then see not one, but two police officers enter the pharmacy. I KNEW they were there for me, Scotland being the shitty police-state surveillance nation it is. I stay calm and 5 minutes later one of the police officers approach me and say 'We've been called round here because we heard someone was purchasing acetone.'.

This event was the only encounter with the police I have ever had in my life. The two officers took me to a small room in the pharmacy where they asked me for my name, address, phone number, my age, what occupation I was involved in and what I needed the acetone for. I truthfully answered everything. They then asked me to empty the bag I was carrying, I was not carrying anything illegal as I knew I would probably encounter the police that day for buying acetone.

They emptied EVERYTHING out of my bag ALL ROUND the room. I had an orange and one of the officers thought I had something hidden in the orange so he poked at it for 5 minutes.

This day I was carrying a pipe, a jet lighter, and salvia leaves. They said 'If you have anything illegal declare it now', I said 'I have salvia divinorum with me'. They said 'What is that?', I said its a plant. They said 'You have a whole plant with you?', I said 'No, I just have the leaves.' So they then asked if it was a legal high and I said 'No.', they then said 'What do you use it for then?'. I didn't say anything. He said 'I can call our people to check if is legal, are you okay with that?', he then looked at me as if he were expecting me to scream 'Okay, its illegal, aahhh'. He phoned his people in another room where they probably told him it was legal.

One of the police officers then said 'Are you sure this is salvia, we can have this sent away for analysis you know', I said 'Okay, send it away.'. One police officer then said to the other 'No don't bother sending it away.'.

They then patted me down and told me to empty all my pockets and take off my shoes, I did and then there was even more of my possessions all round the room.

I was then finally allowed to buy the 500ml acetone, the woman that sold it to me said it was 'PHARMACY NAME WITHELD' that called the police to meet me here, this was the pharmacy I had been to with the man who didn't want acetone to be used for illicit purposes.

I left the pharmacy feeling scared, I will never, ever buy a solvent from a pharmacy again.

Does anyone know how to buy solvents without getting into trouble with the law because I want chloroform but I know if I try to get that I'll probably have SWAT teams sent after me and I'll be tied to a chair, tasered and interviewed.

Swims always went with ebay or direct from the seller of solvents and never had a problem, swims also in scotland.

damn...

I mostly go online if I want pure stuff. Never had issues that way as acetone isn't a watched chem (well it's not meant to be). I buy 5l's from online dealers and have never had the slighest hint of paranoia. It's just nail varnish remover afterall. If pharmacy's are selling for so much then it's not too hard to believe that people buy in bulk online to save.

As a side note, just how shifty do you look exactly?

Has anyone bought chloroform or methanol online without problems? About being shifty I'm an 18 year old, pale white man. Is that shifty?

Wow! Sorry to hear about thine troubles with the law. I buy acetone from the pharmacy section in boots all the time. I think its the same 50ml bottles you were asking for. Sounds like someone was just plain bored at that pharmacy you went to and wanted to be a pain in the ass.

You should try ordering it online.

They probably thaught you want to produce Acetonperoxide, a very dangerous explosive.

Methanol is not a problem, though I hear chloroform is a watched chem. Maybe try DCM?

In the US acetone is sold by the gallon in hardware stores. There are rows and rows of it at Home Depot, so I doubt anyone’s very concerned about how it will be used.

The world is becoming a less free place everyday it seems.

Some general guidlines:

Disclaimer - My critisism is posted with best intentions and hoping it is constructive. So, if it rubs you the wrong way keep in mind that cynics are propably my favorite philosophical movement.



Hm, that doesnt sound good. It sounds as if you live with roomates that pull pranks on you/ do not trust you or with legal guardians (parents) that do not trust you so much. In the first case you'd better solve that issue so you can use online orders freely without having "resident sabotagers" , in the second case well...you know what the nexus says for people extracting anything while under the roof of people legaly responsible for them without their ok. If i am assuming too much feel free to tear me a second one .

As far as appearences go that were commented on by another member, a general rule when buying anything remotely connected to anything you wouldnt like "out in the open" or that mother goose would disaproove of is to look more straight edge than Sweet Jesus! Well, i mean, look at him, beards and long hair . What i mean is : better not have any tatoos visible (i know, i know but some people have stereotypes), piercings can stay at home, weird hairstyles can be ....ummm...tamed and clothes should be generally "agreeable". Social camouflage for the win! I do not know if anything of it applies to you, what i know is that you might feel the above are restrictive...They are, but you will have to only endure them for an hour or so and the benefit is worth it.

On that note, what on sweet rasperyjam heaven were you doing with salvia, a pipe and a jet lighter on you while going to BUY an item that could even once in a million cause you trouble? You could as well have had the extraction guide on you with the word Acetone in bold and highlighted or ask the pharmacist or better the cops to help you with the extraction! I may sound scolding and you might feel offended but please think of it for a moment...No, do not have items on you that can make bad situations go worse should they arise... When being on such a mission the most suspicious item your pockets should at any time contain should be pocket fluff! I usually empty mine, and keep it next to the vial with my belly button fluff, for good measure.

Also the whole story about the other pharmacy "giving you" to the police sounds weird...Hmm do you think the other pharmacist filed a report of some short? I cant help but think that the pharmacy you tried to source the big amount was also involved. Best way to deal with such situations is -if thats your last resort- buy small quantities from many different pharmacies, if possible done at different days . Yes, its tiring, yes its boring, yes it might be idiotically paranoid but it raised less flags.

Last but not least, try to buy from places that you leave the less trails possible. For example hardware shops, supermarkets, anywhere that you do not have to verbally ask for the item in question or you have the least possible interaction with the shopowner. You do not want in any way (either via the items you stack in your basket or with your questions) to make a lasting impression or in any way be noted down as a "suspicious fellow".

Anyway, i hope the above have given you some food for thought and a chuckle I believe that the above are "common knowledge" and that it could have been you, OP, saying them to another member reporting a similar story but being "common sense/knowledge" is what makes them forgetable and easily dismissable...Sometimes its the "common wisdom" that needs reminding in order to be put into practice.


P.S. Oh and by the way, what happened to you is indeed totaly outrageous and it pisses me off.Since though things are not to change in the near future or singlehandedly by the actions of one concsious person the next best solution is adaptation. The fraction of Social Chameleons welcomes you, should you decide to join! Free coctail at the entrance, plus we got the best cookies!

In .de, acetone is a watched chemical in larger amounts and if you order outside the country.
Sorry to hear about your friends story. Absolutely outrageous if you ask me.

This is one of the most discusting thing I have read in a while.

Thats' completely HORRIBLE!:evil:
Sister is appalled, god rot that pharmacist! You should be able to purchase acetone where ever they sell supplies for fiberglass repairs. It is just about the only solvent that will dissolve either vinyl or epoxy resin. You could also check with a boat repair shop if you are near the coast (Isn't Scotland all coast?)

Chloroform can be made easily by mixing either acetone with Sodium Hypochlorite (household bleach) in a bucket. Check out youtube or Rhodium for details if you are interested.


Good luck and god rot Scottish pharmacists

Same with Canada. I bought a 3.8l can of acetone from Home Depot a little while ago, and no one batted an eye. And as a side note, I'm a big biker-looking man with a goatee, which could be considered "shifty"

I love Scotland, the landscape I mean. I always pictured myself moving there when I get older and want to retire. I had no idea there were this strict over something as harmless as acetone.

18 years.... yes

Pale white man.... yes

The real kickers are the details you left out. Piercings? Unkept hair? Long hair? Facial hair? . . is it trimmed or scraggley? If you drove there, does your car have stickers all over it?

It does suck... but those are just a few things that you are being profiled by.

Maybe you just didn't respond the way the pharmacy employee wanted you to.

Most people only see whats put in front of them. The only time they see young people that look like heads are when they see news pieces or read articles...usually pertaining to a bust or a "concerning social epidemic".

I hope you make sure to let that pharmacy location and/or chain that they won't be receiving any of your business in the future.

Something that might help you out in future, but unrelated to what you're talking about. If you ever fry your mother board and cables melt over your heatsink it'd be pretty messy to try and clean, right? To get the melted plastic and glue off you'd need to use a solvent. So get a few bottles of acetone deep enough to make a bath so it will cover your entire heatsink. That's one pretty legimate reason for purchasing acetone.

This thread puts me into a near MURDEROUS RAGE! I HATE these kinds of stories.

On a more practical note, if you're quite young you should just try saying "I'm trying to do a chemistry experiment," and not offer anything more (well, if they ask you for details, just tell them "I doubt you would understand the chemistry involved.". Then add "I didn't know acetone was illegal--my sister buys it to remove nail-polish from her fingernails." And say NOTHING more (i.e., only repeat those things, or variations of them). Of course, when you're young it's difficult to be comfortable ACTING STUPID--but boy oh BOY, it surely does WORK! (It works at any age).

It's true, they are all woman here! Sorry to hear about the whole situation. The person in my local gets concerned about buying too much of anything - good luck with the imaginary extraction anyhow.

makes me glad that i can just walk into and out of home depot no problem.