
Did the Sale of Pyrex Hurt the Crack-Cocaine Industry? - bjonathan
http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/04/28/did-the-sale-of-pyrex-hurt-the-crack-cocaine-industry/
======
luu
They were "forced to switch from measuring cups purchased at Walmart to test
tubes and beakers stolen from labs"? Really? This doesn't pass the sniff test.

Whenever I go into a Goodwill/Savers/Salvation Army store, I see shelves full
of old Pyrex and other borosilicate glass cookware selling for $1 a piece.
Moreover, it's not hard to buy lab equipment out of a catalog (or online).
Considering the profit margins on crack, I have a hard time believing that
buying beakers ($5-10 each, in bulk; less for student-grade) "had a
substantial impact on crack production".

~~~
shareme
actually mid 1990s at Purdue U campus police would regularly investigate
'missing students and missing labware" for this very reason..

Buying out of places and catalogs means someone can track it back to
you..people who do illegal stuff do not want it tracked back to them

~~~
datasink
There's nothing suspicious in itself about ordering laboratory glassware,
regardless of the type. If your lab is raided, the presence of glassware will
be used to build a case against you for manufacturing, whether you bought or
stole it.

Getting caught while stealing glassware from a lab is a much larger risk than
having someone at a for-profit lab supply company play junior detective with
your glassware order. This might not be entirely obvious while high on crack,
though.

~~~
pessimizer
There is something suspicious in itself about ordering laboratory glassware.
When clandestine chemists buy, they use shell buyers, dodgy distributors,
false letterhead, and/or squirrel purchases across many distributors.

~~~
datasink
Clandestine chemists would prefer not to send their glassware to 15 Methlab
Lane, certainly. But most of the clever paranoid tactics are for the
acquisition of chemicals, which the DEA has a very tight grip on. In some
cases, precursors of precursors. A chemical supplier can pretty easily divine
illegal applications from the order combination. Glassware suppliers cannot.
And I'm a laboratory glassware seller, so I can say that with some certainty.

------
pessimizer
According to Pyrex, they made the switch to soda-lime glass in America over 60
years ago.

<http://www.pyrexware.com/index.asp?pageId=30#TruthID6>

and according to STATS.org:

"[...]the industry as a whole switched from borosilicate [...] in the 1980s
for a variety of reasons, including the fact that soda lime was easier to melt
and work with (fewer deformities in the glass). But one of the major reasons
for moving to soda lime was environmental compliance: borosilicate glass
produces far more emissions from a glass furnace, accounting, in part, for the
presence of boric acid in the water and soil. And it was not economical for
companies to install multi-million dollar filter systems."

<http://stats.org/stories/2009/exploding_pyrex_oct14_09.html>

~~~
timtadh
Note that lab grade glassware has been and is currently still borosilicate
glass. (and is sold as such to prevent confusion over what you are buying).

------
JoeAltmaier
Not directly. The new purchaser of Pyrex reduced the quality of the product;
That hurt anyone who desires temperature-resilient cookware, which includes my
Mom.

No, she doesn't make crack cocaine.

~~~
georgieporgie
See pessimizer's comment: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2500938>

------
ikitat
It definitely hurt the telescope optics market, there is no longer an
affordable supplier of borosilicate optical blanks.

------
mhb
Consumer Reports:

[http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-
archive/2011/jan...](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-
archive/2011/january/home-garden/glass-cookware/glass-bakeware/index.htm)

------
e40
Does anyone know why the borosilicate cookware is no longer made? It was great
stuff, while it was available.

~~~
mhb
It's made - just not by Pyrex. I bought some a month ago.

~~~
e40
And what brand did you buy?

~~~
mhb
Arcuisine Elegance 2.8 quart rectangular pan. According to a review comment, a
cheaper borosilicate alternative is Marinex.

------
gus_massa
There is more information and a video in the original article:
[http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-03/gray-matter-
ca...](http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-03/gray-matter-cant-take-
heat)

------
jhaglund
i thought the low-end makers switched to using coffee pots and french presses.
larger producers probably wanted that lab equipment anyway.

------
code_duck
The sale of the Pyrex brand? No. The reformulation of the glass? Yes.

~~~
code_duck
Hy guys, just so you know, I'm a chemistry lab glass expert and have spent
years actually working with borosilicate lab glass as well as soda lime (no,
not in a crack lab).

I've been well aware of the situation with Corning, Global Kitchen and Pyrex
bakeware for years. Therefore, it's humorous I'm getting downvoted on this
story in particular. Carry on.

~~~
SamReidHughes
You're not geting downvoted based on you, you're getting downvoted based on
your comment, which comes off a little snippy.

~~~
code_duck
Sure, I was just saying it's a source of irony or amusement or something for
me. The downvoting hasn't wrinkled my snout.

It's a fairly short and snippy article though, isn't it? That's my succinct
answer to the title. Poor crackheads.

