Other - Preparing Ritalin LA for recreational use

[sknkv2]

SWIM's pet hamburger recently obtained a large amount of Ritalin LA 20 mg (long acting) tablets. Problem is, SWIM's hamburger can't use them recreationally because they last too long. As far as he is aware, there is a different sort of time release mechanism on them. They are basically little beads of methylphen with a coating, with some coatings more easily broken down by the body than others, resulting in the long acting effect. This is info SWIM's hamburger found:

Inactive Ingredients: ammonio methacrylate copolymer, black iron oxide (10 and 40 mg capsules only), gelatin, methacrylic acid copolymer, polyethylene glycol, red iron oxide (10 and 40 mg capsules only), sugar spheres, talc, titanium dioxide, triethyl citrate, and yellow iron oxide (10, 30, and 40 mg capsules).

So he is assuming these are the coatings. Is there anyway to strip these coatings with some sort of simple reaction? Chemistry isn't SWIM's hamburgers forte, so anything relatively easily obtainable would be helpful. Oh, and crushing them up is near impossible, someone told me.

Also, could SWIM's hamburger just dissolve them in water and then evaporate the water? Or would that not work due to the coating.

[BoyzNoize]

pm swim for a whole article as swim is under 50 posts

Results. The degree of membrane swelling in the drug-free solution decreases as the ionic strength increases but it is irrelevant to the pH. With the presence of ionic drugs, the degree of membrane swelling is affected by the drug species as well as the pH of the solutions in addition to the effect of ionic strength. The degree of swelling for a membrane in a solution containing aspirin is higher at a lower pH and ambroxol is lower at a lower pH. Aspirin experiences a three-stage permeation and ambroxol a two-stage one. The ion-exchange reaction between the anionic carboxylic groups in aspirin and the cationic ammonio groups in the membranes results in a slow permeation stage during the transient state. The pseudo steady-state permeability for each drug follows the trend as the degree of membrane swelling in the drug media at various pH and ionic strengths. However, it is much higher for aspirin than ambroxol although the degree of membrane swelling is higher in an ambroxol solution than that in an aspirin solution. The permeability of ambroxol through the membrane is largely reduced because of the Donnan exclusion effect.

Conclusions. The interaction between ionic drugs with the cationic groups in the membranes affects the ionic strength of the solutions and results in a pH-dependent degree of swelling. The ionic interaction also determines the drug permeation rates as well as the transient permeation behaviors.

It seems that swiy would have to acidify the solution that swiy puts it in as the polymer that coats the pill is effected by PH. Swiy might consider putting it in a soda and some kind of citrus mix to dissolve the coating after letting it sit for a bit.

[agnieszka]

Some time ago SWIM had the same doubt. With some, err, skills and patience, SWIY can smash the tiny little balls with the back of a spoon (but carefully, otherwise there's going to be some waste).

Also, SWIM heard that, for better results (if crushing them is not an option), dissolving them in apple juice is a good choice. Never got the apple juice thing (maybe PH levels?), but it works.

[sknkv2]

Hmm, sounds relatively simple. Can anyone with a chemistry background confirm or deny this? Don't want SWIMs hamburger to be the guinea pig.