Cold medicine from meth

Journal of Apocryphal Chemistry
A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine

While in the past many stores were able to sell pseudoephedrine, new laws in the United States have
restricted sales to pharmacies, with the medicine kept behind the counter. The pharmacies require signatures and examination of government issued ID in order to purchase pseudoephedrine. Because the hours of availability of such pharmacies are often limited, it would be of great interest to have a simple synthesis of pseudoephedrine from reagents which can be more readily procured. A quick search of several neighborhoods of the United States revealed that while pseudoephedrine is difficult to obtain, N-methylamphetamine can be procured at almost any time on short notice and in quantities sufficient for synthesis of useful amounts of the desired material.

Read the paper here.