Ethnic Bias in Georgia Drug Sting

The American Civil Liberties Union is accusing federal prosecutors of ethnic bias in a sting last summer in which South Asian owners of convenience stores in Georgia were charged with selling household ingredients that could be used to make methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug.

The sting sent informants to convenience stores in six counties in rural northwest Georgia beginning in 2003 to buy ingredients that can be used to make the drug — ordinary household items like Sudafed, matches, aluminum foil and charcoal.

Prosecutors said the clerks should have known that the ingredients would be used to make methamphetamine because the informants who bought them said they needed the items to "finish up a cook," slang for making the drug.

But several South Asians said they believed that the informants were talking about barbecue.

Forty-four of the 49 people charged were Indian, and 23 out of 24 stores in the sting were owned or operated by Indians.

New York Times

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
This just doesn't make any sense on so many levels. Since when is it a crime to go grocery shopping or to sell ordinary household items. And who would know what a "cook" was anyway. If this was Georgia's way of educating sellers about methamphetamine a pamphlet would had sufficed.

...but since when is it the business of minimum wage store clerks to interrogate their customers over what they intend to do with the perfectly legal items they buy? They are required to demand proof of age when selling tobacco or alcohol, and can't sell booze to obviously drunk people, but I don't think there's any law that requires them to profile customers and, based on that profile, limit the items they are prepared to sell.

If a "middle-eastern" person comes in, should the clerk refuse to sell them 'Aviation Week'? If someone who appears Jewish walks in, are the pork chops off limits?

Madness, utter madness.

matches, aluminum foil and charcoal...HELL ARE ALL BARBQUERS NOW UNDER SUSPICION FOR DOING METH?

INSANITY,...THE WHOLE COUNTRY HAS GONE INSANE!