I’m shocked
I’ve yammered about Tennessee’s stupid new law requiring those that deal in illegal drugs to buy a tax stamp before. It serves only as a tax on stupid people or as another crime to charge someone with in the ever expanding war on drugs. Surprising to no one, is the fact that drug dealers aren’t buying the tax stamps:
In fact, officials said nobody involved with illegal drugs or unstamped liquor has yet taken time to get the required stamps on packages used for their products.
“We haven’t had anybody to date,” said Al Laney, director of revenue enforcement in the Tennessee Department of Revenue. “To tell you the truth, we don’t expect anybody to (ask for a stamp). But we have to afford the taxpayer the opportunity to voluntarily pay.”
March 8th, 2005 at 2:08 pm
Buy some and sell them on ebay as novelties.
March 8th, 2005 at 5:50 pm
Actually, I’m not sure they could prosecute you if you did buy stamps. That would seem to violate the Fifth Amendment protection against self incrimination.
It’s the same reason that criminals cannot be forced to register their guns.
March 9th, 2005 at 3:02 am
Ravenwood, it’s not self-incrimination to require someone to do something before they commit a crime. Requiring a criminal already in possession of a gun to register his gun violates self-incrimination because it arguably requires him to admit to a crime he has already committed. Point of sale registration does not have that problem, so I fail to see why requiring a drug dealer to buy tax stamps in advance of a sale would be any different.