January 24, 2008 — ALBANY - Dealers and users who pay a proposed state levy on illicit drugs - dubbed the “crack tax” by critics - would not be turned over to police by tax officials under a plan being pushed by Gov. Spitzer.
Spitzer, in his 2008-09 budget proposal unveiled Tuesday, said he wants to create a tax stamp for illegal drugs, similar to such stamps used for cigarettes, which he says would raise $13 million in the coming fiscal year and $17 million annually after that.
According to a memo explaining the eyebrow-raising proposal, “The bill contains a unique and strict secrecy requirement, preserving the confidentiality of any information obtained from a dealer.”
Disclosure of the information in some cases would be allowed for a criminal or civil proceeding involving taxes.
But “the bill specifically provides that none of the information may be used against the dealer in any criminal proceeding [other than a tax crime] unless it has been obtained independently,” the memo said.
Before you laugh at Spitzer, need I remind you that, with asset forefiture provisions in many states, and the fact that most or all of the drug money seized in raids goes to police departments to fund this or that, that the illicit drug industry is already being “taxed” in sorts to fund public police agencies.
Of course, with both Spitzer’s proposal and asset forfeiture, they are both built-in incentives for cops never to truly shut down the illicit drug trade — that would cut off a revenue stream. They do have the incentive to knock back dope houses and drug gangs just enough, to make the trade just risky enough, to force upward pressure on the price of drugs, such that the cash that is seized from drug houses to police departments is as high as it can be.
