Tennessee had an illegal drug tax. And it kept getting struck down. Now, there is a class action lawsuit to recover payment of the illegal drug tax.

Look at me! I’m unconstitutional. Soon to be a collector’s item.
Tom Humphrey:
Basically, the majority said that illegal drugs are not subject to taxation under the state constitution, which authorizes taxes on “merchants, peddlers and privileges.” The tax is on possession, they reasoned, not sales so the possessors are not merchants or peddlers. And since possession [...]

Jamie Satterfield notes that the state Supreme Court is looking into TN’s waiver of due process of law err illegal drug tax:
In a separate case, Brad Buchanan tried today on behalf of the state Department of Revenue to convince the state high court to overturn a lower appellate court ruling striking down as unconstitutional the [...]

Seems like Bredesen is finally getting it:
Gov. Bredesen says it may be time to shut down the state’s tax on illegal drugs because of a recent appeals court opinion the so-called “crack tax” is unconstitutional.
It is a stupid law.

Ya know, Tennessee’s unconstitutional drug tax stamp is not as cool looking as Texas’ unconstitutional drug tax stamp.
Update: B-Ho notes:
The Bredesen admininstration appears intent on continuing to collect the tax, despite two court rulings that it is unconstitutional, as a Department of Revenue spokesman says the department will continue to collect the tax while pursuing [...]

Again? Seriously, how many times must this be ruled before, uh, a ruling actually gets rid of it? See prior rulings and coverage here.
Full opinion here, via AC.

Tennessee’s illegal drug tax was overturned once already. Now, it’s been suspended once more:
Two Knoxville lawyers who convinced a chancellor to strike down the state’s so-called “crack tax” as unconstitutional now have won a rare restraining order against the agency that collects it.
Attorneys James A.H. Bell and Richard Holcomb, representing a Livingston pharmacist [...]

Tennessee’s illegal drug tax made the cable news.

Via Ravenwood, Time magazine is looking at Tennessee’s Illegal Drug tax:
since the tax was enacted in 2004 it has netted Tennessee $3.5 million in extra revenue, 75% of which goes directly to the enforcement agencies that carry out the drug busts. Still, some opponents argue that adding such steep penalties on top of criminal charges [...]

Bill Hobbs, who notes that the tax is unconstitutional, quotes:
For a second consecutive year, the state Department of Revenue concealed the failures of the Unauthorized Substance Tax.
In a press release issued Tuesday, the Department praised the Unauthorized Substance Tax, or “crack tax,” for generating $1.7 million in revenue collections. The Department, however, conveniently [...]

Every year, some local news organization runs some article on how much Tennessee collected with its illegal drug tax. Every year, I say bullshit. This year, it’s $1.8M and it’s still bullshit.
Update: MKS has more. And here’s the presser:
During the second year of Tennessee’s unauthorized substances tax, [...]

Sometimes when someone tries to do something good they get confused and screw up something else. This is often referred to as the law of unintended consequences. Case in point would be Senator John McCain’s new bill to crack down on child pornography on the Internet. No one wants child pornography on the Internet but [...]

Bill, on the overturning of Tennessee’s illegal drug tax, notes:
Although a judge has ruled that the Tennessee law requiring drug dealers to pay state taxes on their cocaine, marijuana and other illicit drugs is unconstitutional, the state says it will continue to collect the tax because the ruling applies only to one individual alleged drug [...]

I’ve covered the Tennessee tax stamp on illegal drugs for a while. Via the five people who emailed this to me this morning, comes the Tennessean:
A Tennessee judge has ruled that a state law requiring drug dealers to pay taxes on their cocaine, marijuana and other illicit drugs is unconstitutional.
The ruling by Davidson [...]

Michael Silence notes:
Tennessee’s tax on unauthorized substances such as cocaine and marijuana and some alcoholic beverages brought in more than $1.7 million in its first year, according to revenue officials.
The tax, which is modeled after a 13-year-old North Carolina tax aimed at fighting illegal drugs, has resulted in $1,714,565 in collections and nearly $32 million [...]

It’s also lucrative for the state. The Tennessean reports:
Tennessee modeled its program to collect taxes on illegal drugs after North Carolina’s, but early returns indicate that the Volunteer State’s 6-month-old effort has been more successful.
A report released yesterday showed that Tennessee had collected about six times more taxes on controlled substances as did its [...]

Bill Hobbs notes that The Tennessean swallowed a press release hook, line and sinker. Bill notes the drug tax is costing more than it’s making (something I’ve already pointed out here many times). However . . .
Bill also says:
The Tennessean editorialized in favor of the tax on illegal drugs on April 14, 2004, [...]

A reader sent me a scan of the Tennessee Department of Revenue Unauthorized Substances Stamp (note: Background on Tennessee’s Illegal Drug Tax can be found here). Here it is:

It has a what I assume is a serial number. I also assume that means this is only the 127th one they [...]

Ben Livingston was tracking his efforts to purchase tax stamps on illegal drugs as required by Tennessee law. It starts out with this opening email:
I am interested in purchasing the new illegal drug stamps that Tennessee now offers. I called this morning to purchase some of these, but I was told I could not [...]

Reader Tim Sheehy wrote this and I said I’d publish hit so here you go.
This 4th of July be sure to:
Buckle your seatbelt,
Behave for the traffic cameras,
Patiently wait at the sobriety checkpoints and hold your tongue if you feel the police officer at that checkpoint is too inquisitive,
Don’t light up that cigarette to relax [...]

I’ve discussed Tennessee’s asinine illegal drug tax many times before. It’s only use seems to be taking people’s property without due process of law and there are reports that the tax stamps aren’t actually being sold. Tennessee Rep Stacey Campfield alerts us that:
Tennessee Center for Policy Research has a new study out today [...]

In Tennessee, a 60 year-old man recovering from cancer smoked marijuana to alleviate the pain and depression. He has since been arrested and had his money and cars seized and a lien placed on his house. All this without due process of law, which is blatantly unconstitutional. The fifth amendment states that [...]

WATE reports that Lawyers say Tennessee’s illegal tax law is ripe for abuse:
Defense lawyers say a new law allowing authorities to tax illegal drugs allows officials to bully people not convicted of crimes into paying thousands of dollars.
Tennessee’s Department of Revenue has collected nearly $400,000 in taxes.
Another $$11 million in taxes have been levied, [...]

Here I’ve been trying to step up the blog output, and I’ve already hit the wall. Things are crazy at work today, so I don’t know how much I’ll get to post today.
In the meantime, here’s an interesting tidbit. SayUncle has blogged a couple of times about Tennessee’s tax stamps for illegal drugs. [...]

In an update to Tennessee’s tax on illegal drugs scoring its first booty, I have additional correspondence from someone alleging to be Jerry [redacted]. He tells me that the police first entered the home looking for a runaway girl. They then entered the home the following day by kicking the door down. [...]

I blogged here about Tennessee’s tax on illegal drugs claiming its first booty. A man claiming to be Jerry [redacted](the person whose house was seized for non-payment of the tax that they won’t even let you pay) left some comments there:
The house is worth about $90,000 and I owe $71,000 on it. They taxed [...]

Mark reports that Tennessee’s taxes on illegal drugs are working as expected:
A Bloomington Springs house and the land it sits on yesterday became the first real estate in Tennessee to be seized for unpaid tax on illegal drugs. The property belongs to Jerry [redacted], and the tax is for the marijuana crop that law officers [...]

Regarding Tennessee’s tax on illegal drugs, a commenter over at Michael Silence’s blog writes:
The Department of Revenue claims that to date nobody has attempted to voluntarily pay this tax. I would like to point out that this is untrue.
I attempted to voluntarily pay this tax on January 6, but all of my attempts were rejected [...]

Any of my Tennessee readers know the street value of 42.5 grams of marijuana in Knoxville? Actually, can someone translate that into some useful measure for me too (such as joints)?
I’m not up on drug values since I don’t do drugs but I am thinking of heading down to the local Tennessee [...]

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 [...]

Bill Hobbs notes that Tennessee will start taxing illegal drugs next year (I’ve mentioned this before). Says Bill:
This actually works – and is a pretty good idea, though it sounds a bit odd at first. The law will require sellers of illegal drugs to pay excise taxes, just legal businesses. Most drug-pushers won’t comply, [...]

First up, the new seat belt law would allow police to pull you over if they see that you’re not buckled up. Under the old law, they’d ticket you for it only if they pulled you over for something else. Gov. Bredesen, who says he’ll sign the bill, said:
”I understand the issue of [...]

Reader Drake emails this article:
The Legislature is considering new taxes and some fee increases, but it’s unlikely most people would pay them.
One new tax would apply to drug dealers.
Sen. Randy McNally, a Republican from Oak Ridge, proposes to tax marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs. Those who step forward to pay the [...]