COURT OKs KY. TAX ON ILLEGAL DRUGS

Kentucky's top tax collectors watched and waited as a test case
challenging a law that allows the state to tax marijuana and other
illegal drugs made its way through the court system.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week let the law stand - a decision that
sets in motion plans for broader enforcement of a statute on the books
since 1994.

The law was enacted by the General Assembly as a way to take the
profits out of crime.

While marijuana generates millions of dollars under the table and is
believed to be the second largest cash crop in Kentucky behind
tobacco, only about $255,110 has been collected since the drug tax law
was enacted and a legal challenge filed.

Guier didn't have an estimate on how much money the drug tax could
provide. However, the law says controlled substances that are not
sold by weight could be taxed at $2,000 for every 50 pills or
tablets; marijuana could be taxed at $1,000 per plant; and controlled
substances at $200 per gram.

One potential source of drugs subject to state taxes are those seized
at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.