State tax on illegal drugs sought

OLYMPIA – Crime doesn’t pay?

Well, Tom Campbell thinks it ought to.

The Republican state lawmaker wants to start taxing drug dealers. Legislation he introduced this week would require dealers and users to pay taxes on their illicit inventories by purchasing state tax stamps for all cocaine, heroin, pills, other drugs and bootleg liquor intended for sale in Washington.

“Upon payment of the tax, the dealer shall permanently affix the appropriate stamps to the unauthorized substance,” legislative researchers said in an analysis of Campbell’s proposal. In fact, the money would go into a special new “Unauthorized Substances Tax Account” in the state treasury.

Under the measure, the use, sale and possession of illicit drugs would remain against the law. But any dealer, mule or user caught with untaxed drug stashes would face even greater penalties and would be obligated to pay the tax.

Although it might sound silly, other states are using a similar approach with mixed results.

And while no one believes drug dealers will begin lining up to buy tax stamps if the measure is approved, it would give the state greater leverage in quickly laying claim to any cash that dealers have in their possession when taken into police custody. Most of the tax revenue would be given to the state and local law enforcement agencies that made the arrests.

The state’s defense lawyers association says the bill is probably unconstitutional, wouldn’t deter drug use, and wouldn’t raise much money.

As things stand now, Campbell told a House committee this week, hardworking taxpayers pick up the tab for drug crimes, courts, prosecution and property damage.

“This bill is quite simple: The perpetrator pays,” he said. “It’s a very simple concept; it’s not complicated. If you appreciate the concept that they do cost us a lot of money, I think this is one way to kind of level the playing field a little bit.”

Campbell said the idea came from North Carolina, which passed a similar law in 1989 and gets about $6 million a year in taxes on contraband. Tennessee has done the same thing, he said, netting about $2 million a year.

“It’s been somewhat of a success,” said Campbell, R-Roy.

The bill even includes specific tax rates, ranging from 40 cents per gram for marijuana stems and stalks to $50 per gram for cocaine.

The tax is payable within 48 hours of a person getting the drug, with exceptions for Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. If illegal drugs are found without the tax stamps, the owner would be assessed the taxes, fines and penalties, in addition to whatever drug charges they’d face.

Three-quarters of the money would go to state and local law enforcement. The rest would go into the state’s general fund and could be used for anything.

Among those unhappy with the bill: the American Civil Liberties Union and the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The tax won’t raise much money, will keep violators in expensive prison cells even longer, and does nothing for drug treatment, defense attorney Kim Gordon told lawmakers.

Already, she said, drug defendants are assessed jail costs, court costs, lab fees, restitution and defense costs.

“They are assessed and assessed and assessed, and many of these costs are never paid,” she said. “They have nothing left to give.”

Rep. John Ahern, R-Spokane, nonetheless likes the bill.

“In some countries, such as Thailand, just the mere possession of drugs could get you executed, if not life imprisonment,” he told Gordon. “Wouldn’t you say, under those circumstances, that this is really a pretty lenient bill?”

“I wouldn’t defend Thailand’s approach to drug crime,” she said, repeating her call for treatment.

“There are ways of dealing with the drug problem,” she said, “and this isn’t the responsible way to do it.”