Chemists Working Overtime

Author(s): Matt Torhan (UPR Chemistry REU 2000)

You are a sophomore undergraduate student taking an organic chemistry class. Working late in the lab late one day you have a question about your experiment. While looking for someone who can answer your question, you overhear a professor and two graduate students talking about methamphetamines. They also appear to be in the process of preparing to make them. You quickly leave the room before they noticed you.

What should you do, if anything?

This case is reprinted with permission from the cases found at the Center for Ethics in the Professions at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez.