What are drug precursors?

Drug precursors are chemicals that are primarily used for

the legitimate production of a wide range of products, like pharmaceuticals,
perfumes, plastics, cosmetics etc. However, they can also be misused for the illicit
manufacture of drugs such as methamphetamines, heroin or cocaine.
Two examples:

acetic anhydride (AA) is used in many legitimate industrial processes as an

acetylating agent for the production of plastics, textiles, dyes, photochemical
agents, perfumes, explosives and cigarette filters. However, AA is also an
important reaction agent for the illicit production of heroin. For the production
of 1 kg of heroin, 1 to 1.5 litre of AA is required.
ephedrine or pseudo-ephedrine strong nasal-decongestants are legally
used to manufacture medicinal products against flu or allergies, but they are
also key precursors used in illicit production of methamphetamine. Only 1.5
kg of ephedrine/pseudoephedrine is needed to obtain 1 kg of
methamphetamine. Assuming that 1 tablet contains 60mg of
ephedrine/pseudoephedrine, 25 000 tablets are needed to obtain 1 kg of
methamphetamine.

Taking into account thewide range of legitimate uses of drug precursors, their trade
cannot be prohibited. Since the early nineties specific regulatory frameworks, both at
international and at EU level, have been put in place to ensure that diversion of drug
precursors is prevented through control of their legitimate tradeat EU borders and in
the internal market. The legislation aims to strike a balance between the necessary
control to prevent diversion of drug precursors and allowing their legitimate trade
without creating unnecessary administrative burdens.
At EU level 24 substances are "scheduled" (controlled) and th