TEK - Nicaine's Pill Extraction Series - Ambien (zolpidem)

[Nicaine]

For those who might want to try extracting more-or-less pure zolpidem tartrate from Ambien tablets, here's a recipe.

Ingredients:

* Five 10-mg standard release Ambien tablets.
* Two 10ml glass contact lens vials, or equivalent.
* 99% isopropyl alcohol (91% will work, but not as well).
* Mortar/Pestle or other pill-crushing gear.
* Standard eyedropper.
* Microwaveable water glass or small coffee mug.
* Piece of glass from an old flatbed scanner, or large/flat dinner plate (evaporation surface).
* Blow dryer for hair (used for evaporation).
* Razor blade with flat/dull end (can be used for scraping).
* Small microwave-safe plate (for drying crystals).

(1) Crush and pulverize the Ambien tablets. Transfer the powdered pills to one of the glass vials.

(2) Add 7 or 8ml of isopropyl alcohol.

(3) Cover the vial and shake thoroughly.

(4) Microwave a 1/4 glass of water until boiling. Stand the glass vial inside the cup of water for a few minutes to heat the alcohol and help extract zolpidem from the pill cellulose. Make sure you ventilate the vial a couple times to keep pressure from building up. Remove vial of hot alcohol solution from cup and shake/shake/shake/shake.

(5) Set the vial to cool. The contents of the pills (binders, etc) will begin to settle out.

(6) In an hour or two, you should notice most of the pill contents sitting on the bottom of the vial. The liquid will not be completely clear, but that's OK. Using an eyedropper, transfer the clear-ish fluid to a second glass vial. Discard pill remnants on the bottom of the first vial.

(7) Spread the isopropyl alcohol/zolpidem solution on the flatbed scanner glass or large/flat dinner plate. Using the blow dryer, evaporate away the isopropyl alcohol (ensure proper ventilation).

(8) When the alcohol is completely evaporated, scrape zolpidem tartrate off the glass using a sharp razor blade. You will notice it's light, fluffy, hydrophilic and difficult to work with. Gather all the crystals and put them onto a small microwave-safe plate.

(9) Microwave the crystals for 30 seconds or so to dehydrate.

The resulting crystals are nearly pure zolpidem tartrate. They can be snorted, but it's quite painful. They can be administered rectally, or sublingually (under the tongue) if you can take the extreme bitter taste. I suppose a real nut-case could inject them, following proper microfiltering and sterile procedures. Note that there's likely still a small amount of cellulose and other pill binders present in the end result. Either a full A/B extraction or (at minimum) defatting with a nonpolar solvent following step 6 would be an excellent idea if someone were actually considering injection.

See this patent on zolpidem salt forms for further information.