basing Codeine

[BeetleJuice]

Hey,

SWIM has been bugging me for awhile about how to get pureish codeine base using just the first step of the "home bake" method.From what iv read it goes a little somthing like this==

Crush sufficient pills to yield 2 g of codeine and mix with distilled water. Filter with a vacuum funnel to remove insolubles and add to a separatory funnel. Add NaOH solution to make the solution pH 12. Extract twice with chloroform (2x25 mL). This will be the bottom layer. Discard the water layer, which contains the aspirin or acetominophen) and evaporate the chloroform layer to dryness under gentle heat. The result is codeine base, a white crystalline powder. ===

Now that seems easy enogh for SWIM but it seems he doesent know much about chloroform and what its uses are an what kind of place to look for it, so my mexican friend was wondering if there is a substitute one can use instead of chloroform or if anyone can help him out with any kind of info on the situation..

Thanks