Ingredients were mixed or layered in a container, typically a fish tank or five gallon bucket, and the container was buried in the ground or kept in a dark closet for up to 28 days until crystals grew on strings suspended above the chemical solution. Other recipes involved various cleaning fluids such as acetone and ammonia or chemicals such as iodine. The ingredients included pseudoephedrine, red phosphorus, charcoal, gun bluing and aluminum shavings. Respondents recounted similar but slightly different accounts of how to grow methamphetamine crystals on strings. Respondents reported “growing methamphetamine.” Upon further questioning we learned that growing methamphetamine crystals on a string suspended over a container was a common method for producing methamphetamine in the area. We conducted ethnographic research among diverse drug networks and interviewed methamphetamine users who lived and used methamphetamine in the suburbs. In 2007 we began a study on methamphetamine use in the suburbs of a large southeastern city of the United States.
