What is the primary starting ingredient in most methamphetamine recipes?

The primary starting ingredient in most methamphetamine recipes is pseudoephedrine. This is because pseudoephedrine is a common decongestant found in many over-the-counter cold and allergy medications, making it more accessible for illicit drug manufacturing. Methamphetamine production often relies on the chemical structure of pseudoephedrine, which can be chemically altered through a series of processes to produce methamphetamine.

While some recipes might utilize caffeine or certain cold medicines in combination with other ingredients, pseudoephedrine stands out as the key component due to its efficacy in this illegal synthesis. Alcohol, on the other hand, is not a common ingredient in meth manufacturing and has no functional role in the conversion process to methamphetamine.