Drug License

Don't catch 'em, tax 'em!

Don't misunderstand: in Arizona, as in every other state, it is still illegal to peddle drugs. But citizens who intend to sell illicit drugs in Arizona anyway are now obliged to get a $100 state license from the department of revenue. Still more curious, the law that went into effect last month requires that an official, yellow $10 tax stamp be stuck to every 1-oz. bag of marijuana sold, and a $125 blue stamp to each 1-oz. parcel of cocaine (or any other illegal drug). What is more, the revenuers must keep the names of all licensees confidential; otherwise the statute would violate the constitutional protection against selfincrimination.

Even so, only a dozen Arizonans have so far asked for license applications. Not that Arizona expects many dope dealers to become licensed. The state wants to levy fines, $10 per oz. of pot and $125 per oz. of coke, on untaxed drug caches seized by police, regardless of the outcomes of criminal prosecutions. Last week came the first case: a man was charged with "possession for sale" of 247 lbs. of marijuana and assessed $39,520 for having no license or stamps.

The statute is the only one of its kind in the U.S. Sergeant Bob Stocksdale of the state police's narcotics division is hopeful. "We're glad to see this law," he says. "If you get the narcotics dealer in the wallet, that will knock him down. But we just flat don't know yet how, or if, it will work." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.