MERCHANTS AND METH

Some Say Immigrant Store Owners Could Be Vulnerable to New State
Laws

As he leaned on a crate of Cheez-Its in an Uptown convenience store,
attorney Rishi Agrawal warned store owner Kirit Shah that
methamphetamine dealers covet the Sudafed behind his counter.

"To make drugs?" Shah exclaimed, his eyes widening.

Authorities are trying to stem the spread of "meth" by controlling the
flow of its ingredients, especially cold medicines.

But a survey by Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan's office, to be
released Tuesday, shows that just 5 percent of Cook County
convenience-store owners are complying with the new laws. By contrast,
97 percent of pharmacies and chain drugstores followed the rules.

Most convenience stores in the U.S. are family-owned, many by
immigrants such as Shah. So Agrawal and other Chicago activists
recently launched an unusual outreach campaign to ensure that
immigrant merchants don't jeopardize their status in America by
leaving themselves open to prosecution.

A state law that took effect in January prohibits stores without
licensed pharmacists from selling to a customer more than one
"convenience pack" of two pills containing ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine. Merchants must also keep such products behind the
counter, require photo identification and log the names of buyers.

So far, Madigan's office is focusing on education, not prosecution.
But Cara Smith, policy director for Madigan's office, said a second
strike would result in fines of at least $500.

Smith said meth producers look to exploit weak spots in the system,
and that so far, convenience-store compliance presents a gap in the
state's methamphetamine crackdown.

Walt Hehner, deputy chief of the narcotics prosecution bureau for the
Cook County state's attorney, said the main targets for law
enforcement here remain the mass producers of the drug, though no
violator is completely safe.

"If [a merchant] is going to be charged with this, they are going to
have to be asking to be charged," he said.

Still, authorities say the nature of convenience stores makes
compliance a challenge.

Unlike Walgreens and CVS stores where employees receive frequent
legislative updates from corporate headquarters, 60 percent of
convenience stores are single-store operations, according to the
National Association of Convenience Stores.

The association's spokesman said immigrants make up a disproportionate
share of store owners, although he did not have specific data. And
though the attorney general's office worked with the state convenience
store association to notify its members of the new laws, many
convenience store owners are not members.

So in recent weeks, members of the outreach campaign hit dozens of
stores in the Loop, Uptown, Edgewater, Lakeview and the suburbs. Of 19
visited with a Tribune reporter last week, 16 store owners identified
themselves as immigrants from south Asia.

Almost all merchants were properly displaying medicines behind the
counter.

But when asked about the other components of the law, few were aware
they could only sell one package at a time.

"No one ever buys more than one. They just get their box, a bottle of
water and that's it," explained one Edgewater merchant.

Others had heard of the law but thought it pertained to expiration
dates.

On Sunday, a small group of merchants heard from prosecutors and
lawyers at the Indo-American Center about their legal obligations, the
latest step in the outreach by the local Indian and Pakistani bar
associations.

Sadruddin Noorani, owner of a Loop convenience store, said Sunday's
informational meeting was "eye-opening." He plans to spread
information through the Pakistani Business Association of Chicago.

"The law says if you aren't aware, that's not a good excuse," Noorani
said.

The consequences of the strict meth laws were made starkly clear last
year during Operation Meth Merchant, a federal sting against
convenience stores in Georgia. Federal prosecutors said employees knew
that meth production was behind the purchases of medicines, antifreeze
and other products.

Of the 49 workers charged, 44 were south Asian immigrants.

The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a motion accusing
federal prosecutors of selective prosecution. U.S. Atty. David Nahmias
released a statement defending the sweep, emphasizing "we prosecute
people based on the evidence and the law, not their race or ethnicity."

The arrests triggered protests by the Racial Justice Campaign Against
Operation Meth Merchant, a coalition that includes a representative of
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Of the 44 employees, about two dozen
have already pleaded guilty, while charges were dismissed against
eight others.

Deepali Gokhale, organizer of the campaign, said the arrests show the
need to educate immigrants about legal responsibilities.

"Families are being split. People are being deported," Gokhale said.
"It's devastated the community."