Clerk Convicted Of Selling Meth Ingredient (10 Bottles of Cold Medicine Could Bring 10 Years)

The Oklahoman ^ | Oct. 2, 2003

[Wolfie]

CLERK CONVICTED OF SELLING METH INGREDIENT

ENID -- A convenience store clerk has been convicted of selling an over-the-counter decongestant used to make methamphetamine. Claude Allen McFalls, 70, sold 10 bottles of cold medicine to an undercover police officer at Mac's Mart No. 1 in Enid. He was convicted Wednesday of unlawful sale of precursor substances.

McFalls could face up to 10 years in prison.

McFalls testified that he did not hear most of what Sgt. Kevin Morris said to him during the sale last August. The clerk said he would not have sold the pills if he understood the officer intended to use them to manufacture methamphetamine.

Morris said McFalls initially refused to sell him more than five bottles of pseudoephedrine tablets, even though he complained he could not cook up much dope with that many pills.

"I said, 'It's kind of hard to make meth when you can only get five bottles at a time,'" Morris said.

McFalls eventually consented to sell Morris another five bottles if he went out to his car for a few minutes then re-entered the store, the narcotics officer said.

Selling pseudoephedrine is not illegal unless the seller knows it is intended to be used for manufacturing methamphetamine.

McFalls was one of seven people arrested Aug. 22, 2002, on charges of illegally selling pseudoephedrine.

McFalls' sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 2.

[Almondjoy]

Ignorance is bliss.

[apillar]

Heck, I know a lot of 70 year olds that would think "meth" was some home remedy or something and wouldn't have a clue if someone said they were going to use cold medicine to make "meth".

[Stone Mountain]

But you're saying we should not arrest him because of his age?

Not me - I would never say anything like this...

[TKDietz]

"Exactly when did some brilliant mind come up with a way to change the laws of chemistry? Methamphetamine indeed...."

What are you saying? That's the way meth is made in these little kitchen labs. Psuedoephedrine is converted in to meth. Other things like prescription amphetamines can also be converted into meth, but they are much more expensive and harder to get so all the little dope cooks use psuedo. First they exract the psuedo from the pills in an attempt to get pure psuedoephedrine, and then they use a series of chemical processes to try to convert it to methamphetamine. Most of the time they'll end up with a fairly pure product, converting 65% or more of the psuedoephedrine into methamphetamine.

[Old Professer]

I'd rather know the age of the officer.

[samiam5]

"I'd rather know the age of the officer."

i don't recall his age, but this officer is my cousin and i know he is an honest man and a good cop.

I lived in Enid for several years and have seen the scourge of the drug culture there first hand. Arrest one 70-year old man and look at all the "let our people destroy themselves" crowd come out of the woodwork

if the man is guilty, then it doesn't really matter if he is a teenager or a senior citizen....

[Old Professer]

Would it be unfair to suggest that the old gentleman was merely trying to be accommodating and had no interest in the furtherance of crime?

[HamiltonJay]

Yea, I'm sure this old guy's made a fortune on the $10 profit from those 10 bottles.. be serious... DA should refuse to take this to trial.

[lodwick]

Welcome to the Police State.

[samiam5]

Not if the quotes in the article are accurate. I mean he did tell the guy he was going to use the pills to make dope...

[Old Professer]

And I suppose if he had wanted gas for his lawnmower and the cop said he told the old dude that he really wanted to blow up the Empire State building that would be grounds for prosecution as well?

[Old Professer]

Or, what if he had told the old dude he needed ammonia and Clorox so he could make some phosgene gas he'd be haulded off to jail by your reasoning as a small sacrifice to freedom?

[Old Professer]

Hauled, sorry.

[samiam5]

The last time I checked, lawnmower gas and clorox are legal to buy. Now if you were to store enough explosives to fill a Ryder truck, that may be another story.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

He may be 70 years old, but you can't say he didn't know what he was getting into. However, should we really have a law limiting sales of medicines just because some loser could make them into meth?

[ccmay]

So you don't have any problem with what was done to this clerk? Wow...

Oh, this is nothing.

Over the years, I have never seen 'robertpaulsen' object to anything done by law enforcement, no matter how far outside the bounds of what ordinary people think of as the American way.

He'll defend any action taken in the name of the War on (some) Drugs, even the most manifestly unjust, unconstitutional, and downright wicked. It's repulsive to watch.

-ccm

[ccmay]

The statute defines a chemical weapon as any weapon, device, method or substance that is designed or has the capability to cause death or serious injury through the release, dissemination or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals or their immediate precursors.

I guess they don't have any oil refineries or pesticide factories in this state?

-ccm

[robertpaulsen]

"It's repulsive to watch."

What is truly repulsive is your support for a person who would sell an illegal amount of decongestant, knowing it was to be used to make methamphetamine.

Not use. Not deal. Manufacture. What's wrong with you?