Stamp Out Drugs

People ask what drug decriminalization would look like. We already know. In 1937 Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which required dealers to affix tax stamps to their product. The Supreme Court overturned the law in 1969, but by one count 17 states have statutes of their own requiring anyone possessing illegal drugs to buy and attach tax stamps. The idea may sound corny (most drug stamps are sold to collectors), but prosecutors insist that it's an effective weapon. Because tax evasion is a civil infraction, authorities have a lesser burden of proof and can seize assets without a court order to pay delinquent taxes and penalties. In Minnesota that amounts to $3.50 per gram of marijuana and $200 per gram of narcotics, plus a 100 percent penalty. In Iowa it's $5 per gram of marijuana, $750 per plant, $250 per gram of narcotics or $400 per 10 doses if the drug isn't sold by weight. North Carolina courts have collected $68 million in fines since 1990 from suspects caught with illegal drugs that hadn't been stamped.