subject: Did You Know They Tax Drugs? Check it Out [print this page] Did You Know They Tax Drugs? Check it Out
It is pretty insane the devious attempts politicians and governments in general make to boost their tax revenues, some of their creativity should not be left ignored. Here, I'll explain what preposterous and incredible tax attempts politicians have done.
Taxing the Outlawed - Drugs
One of the benefits of legalizing narcotics like marijuana (weed) are the huge tax revenues it could create. Think about it, drugs are the best source of tax revenue because it's what people are addicted to. Taxing such an addiction, since they already do that for cigarettes anyway, would increase tax revenues substantially. Check this out:
The NNICC reports that prices for commercial marijuana ranged from $50 to $100 in 1985. By 1992 the highest price for commercial marijuana, according to their reports, was $450. For higher quality sinsemilla, NNICC reports a range of $120 to $200 in 1985, increasing to a range of $75 to $650 in 1992 (DrugScience.org).
Currently, about 10 states have attempted to tax individuals for possessing illegal drugs. Consider, for example, Kansas which levies a drug tax on dealers once they obtain possession. In order to protect themselves from prosecution regarding the failure to pay up for their drugs, they'll be reinforced to purchas "drug tax stamps" and fix it to their drugs. When they've accomplished this, they'll be safe for three months.
In an obvious attempt to boost compliance, the Kansas Department of Revenue reinforces, they even have a FAQs page:
"A dealer is not required to give his/her name or address when purchasing stamps and the Department is prohibited from sharing any information relating to the purchase of drug tax stamps with law enforcement or anyone else."
Check out the commentary from a lawyer:
I first became interested in state drug tax stamps when I represented a gentleman charged with a felony because he hadn't bought the necessary tax stamps and attached them to the bag of cocaine he happened to be carrying. I challenged Wisconsin's drug tax law and ultimately convinced the state supreme court to strike it down on self-incrimination grounds (Check out his page here).
These taxes are levied on cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines and other hardcore illegal drugs. Mesmerizingly, Kansas acquired over $300,000 in these taxes by going after those that were charged with illegal activities. They call this principle the "Al Capone Theory",derived from authorities whowere able to capture famous mobsters on tax evasion. Nevertheless, criminal prosecutors have not been too pleased with these illegal drug tax tactics.
Drug Tax Foils Prosecution of Drug Dealers in Texas
The fifth ConstitutionalAmendment gives Americans protection from being charged twice for the same crime. This is known as "double jeopardy", causing prosecutors in 1989 to plea for the state controller's office to relinquish negotiating tax payments from drug dealers. What was the logic behind it? Nevertheless, a Texas Criminal Court of Appeal ruled that the state law administering taxes on illegal drugs constituted a "punishment". The result consisted was that it required the payment of the tax becoming double jeopardy if the taxpayer had already been charged.
In order to protect their clients from drug charges, attorneys started advising them to quickly pay up their drug-related taxes. They believed that as soon as the taxes were paid up, they couldn't prosecute on the same charge because that would cause "double jeopardy". Guess what happened? They totally agreed with this logic. Isn't it sound logic? Well, what happens now I don't know...
