Cold water extraction
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Cold water extraction is the process whereby a substance is extracted from a mixture via cold water.
The process generally involves taking a mixture of substances, and dissolving them into warm water, and then cooling the mixture. The insoluble compounds precipitate out of the water, while the soluble ones stay dissolved; thus extracting one from the other. This process works because some substances' solubility in water varies with temperature, enabling one to dissolve a compound in hot water and extract it as the mixture cools down.
Opiate extraction
In many countries tablets are available containing 300mg of aspirin, paracetamol (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen in combination with 8mg of codeine (or 30mg of codeine in the case of Tylenol 3), an opiate. Cold water extraction of codeine from these painkiller tablets has become popular amongst recreational drug users as it speeds up absorption and reduces hepatotoxicity caused by the APAP (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen. This practice can be performed on any opiate available in powder-based pill form, although it would be unnecessary to perform it on strong opiates such as oxycontin or morphine sulphate, because those drugs are available unadulterated, unlike lesser opiates such as codeine, oxycodone (Percocet®) or hydrocodone (Vicodin®), which are usually combined with an over-the-counter painkiller, such as those previously mentioned, that are toxic in high doses whereas the opiates themselves are not.
Per nominal cold water extraction, the tablets are first crushed and dissolved into some warm water. The solution is then cooled in a refrigerator or freezer and then, afterwards, filtered (typically with a coffee filter or something similar) to remove the non-opiate compound, which is insoluble in water; they then precipitate as the solution cools. The remaining compound can be filtered a second time. The remaining liquid containing the opiate without the non-opiate compound is then consumed orally as a liquid or left to evaporate, then scraped together and smoked or injected.
This use of this process has in part led to tighter enforcement of prescription drug laws involving opiates in the USA as the number of recreational users of opiates has increased in the teen and adult age groups.
See also
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