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How Regulations Hamper Chemical Hobbyists
An anonymous reader writes "Chemical & Engineering News just ran this story that relates how government regulations create a terribly restrictive atmosphere for people who do chemistry as a hobby. (A related story was previously posted.)" The article gives some examples of why hamfisted regulations are harmful even to those who aren't doing the chemistry themselves: "Hobby chemists will tell you that home labs have been the source of some of chemistry's greatest contributions. Charles Goodyear figured out how to vulcanize rubber with the same stove that his wife used to bake the family's bread. Charles Martin Hall discovered the economical electrochemical process for refining aluminum from its ore in a woodshed laboratory near his family home. A plaque outside Sir William Henry Perkin's Cable Street residence in London notes that the chemist 'discovered the first aniline dyestuff, March 1856, while working in his home laboratory on this site and went on to found science-based industry.'"
What about the idiot that looks up how to make nitroglycerin on the Internet and kills 20 people?
I love the idea of full blown chem lab at home but there does need to be a balance.
The simple truth is if you want a lab like that you probably need to move out to a rural area. Hack they get cranky with HAMs putting up antennas in so places.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Another problem is the threat that chemists can pose to themselves and others. For every Goodyear who succeeded, how many unknown chemists ended up with poisoning, burns, cancer, or other damage to the local neighborhood? I had two acquaintances from teenage bomb-making (back in the day) who ended up losing body parts.
There has to be a balance. Although the pendulum surely has swung too far in the "9/11! 9/11! 9/11!" direction, sending it all the way back to wild west days would also be a mistake.
Everything you just said points to it being a giant mistake that the American Public just voted in Barack Obama.
The problem isn't the relatively few smart people that might use such substances responsibly. The problem is the incredibly large number of people that couldn't understand they are doing something silly adding water to concentrated acid. This latter group vastly outnumbers the former, so much so that giving people free access to stuff would result in ... well, I would imagine a lot of damage.
See, we don't let kindergardners play in the kitchen. After the age of five or so people (mostly) understand things like knives are sharp, the range is hot, and you don't want to sit in the refrigerator. So the kitchen is pretty safe.
If your average apartment-dweller knew they had access to powerful acids, strong bases and such they might want to play around. You know, "Hey Charlie, watch THIS!!!" So we have relatively ineffectual regulations that keep Charlie's friend away from finding out how easy it is to get this stuff. This sounds like a good plan to me.
Bomb making? You can still get everything you need. Obviously, because people are still making bombs. It just takes a bit more motivation and perseverence.
justice == oppression?
gee, how profound.
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
Today the terrorist CAN get hazardous chemicals.
Enough said.
After several minutes of trying I can't even put into words just how much I disagree with everything about this statement. I award you zero points, and may FSM have mercy on your soul.
Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
I did not condone prior restraint. Still the society at large makes the rules like I said and decides what is illegal. If you don't like it then argue to change those rules. Still the reason drug users are looked down upon is because 90% of drug dealers are nefarious and commit other crimes as well. The other 10% of drug dealers are the users themselves who just sell off the excess. How the law should determine which is which is pretty up in the air.
but that's not as easy as just figuring out which part is the stove.
Meh. This is the Dot; most folks here couldn't find their backsides with a flashlight, both hands and an instruction manual.
=Smidge=
Of course they could. They'd just argue that the hole in the center is the sun.