Problem with testing for most substances is that you need to have controls - the machine doesn't just identify something, it allows you to compare different samples. To reliably test for MDMA, for instance, you need to own lab control samples of MDMA, which requires a DEA license for running a toxicology lab. You could certainly test a "dubious substance", but without controls you wouldn't know for sure what it is (though you may still be able to make some educated guesses).<br>
<br>-Sam<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 1:09 PM, Jamie Schwettmann <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jamie.schwettmann@gmail.com">jamie.schwettmann@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
I for one, would love to know what fake food (and tap water!) are *really* made of before I welcome our pharmochemical overlords. Publishing spectral analysis of the alphabetical array of mysterious multisyllabic additives currently adorning the shelves of every major grocery chain in the country would be awesome indeed.<br>
<br>Is it illegal *anywhere* to test dubious substances? Aren't most substances dubious until a reasonable accounting of their origin can be determined?<br><br>- Jamie<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 11:50 AM, john arclight <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:arclight@gmail.com" target="_blank">arclight@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Maybe you can offer to test moonshine that people bring in. Manitoba<br>
has hillbillies like the US does, right?<br>
<br>
Is it illegal where you are to test pills and other dubious substances<br>
people bring samples of?<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
<br>
Arclight<br>
</font><div><br>
On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 8:20 PM, Andrew Orr <<a href="mailto:andrew@andreworr.ca" target="_blank">andrew@andreworr.ca</a>> wrote:<br>
> Hey everyone,<br>
><br>
> Our hackerspace[1] got offered a mass spectrometer, but we have to figure<br>
> out what kinds of thing we'll use it for before we can get it. The guy who<br>
> is donating it doesn't want it to sit idle or be put in storage or whatever.<br>
><br>
> So my question to you lot is: What kinds of projects / use cases does a mass<br>
> spectrometer have in a hackerspace?<br>
><br>
> Cheers,<br>
> -Andrew<br>
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