Summary
"Clandestine drug laboratories, of which the majority are producing methamphetamine, represent one of the most significant social challenges facing Canada and in particular British Columbia. Such laboratories are capable of producing large quantities of illicit drugs in production cycles that can often span less than 48 hours, making timely discovery essential. This report outlines the first phase of a larger project aiming at developing sensor technology targeted at detecting these clandestine methamphetamine laboratories. As part of this report, we provide a detailed analysis of the most common methamphetamine manufacturing processes and identify the airborne chemicals released during manufacturing. Since each of these manufacturing processes has a unique chemical and temporal signature, these signatures can be used to distinguish methamphetamine laboratories from other legitimate sources of these gases. In the context of the target gases, this report also provides a detailed assessment of available sensor technology, as well as sensor technology currently under development. The objective of this assessment is to identify the sensor technologies that would be most suitable for this application. In addition, recommendations for future steps are developed in order to further assess the feasibility of this project."--Abstract.