SJC DEALS BLOW TO STATE LAW IMPOSING TAX ON DRUG DEALERS

Robert W. Mullins once dealt marijuana in pounds, not ounces.

He spent six months in prison once he got caught.

He forfeited $145,000 in cash - and then he got a $282,000 bill from state
tax collectors. Yesterday, however, the Supreme Judicial Court effectively
told Mullins to forget about it. In a 7-0 decision, the court said the
state's ''controlled substances tax'' is unconstitutional when used in
concert with a criminal prosecution and that Mullins no longer has to pay
the tax bill. Mullins ''was very happy, of course,'' after learning about
the SJC decision, said his Boston attorney, William B. VanLonkhuyzen. The
attorney also said the SJC ruling essentially guts the 1993 law. ''I think
in practical terms, it's dead and gone,'' he said. The controlled substances
tax has been largely ignored by the Department of Revenue - and the drug
dealers who are supposed to voluntarily pay a tax on their illegal drugs to
the state.

Backers of the law envisioned it as another way for law enforcement to go
after drug dealers, by prosecuting them for failing to pay drug taxes.

But Mullins and one other person are the only two people whom the state tax
collectors moved against.

Both cases were referred to the state by local prosecutors, and the SJC said
that connection made the drug tax a form of double jeopardy.

Enforcement of the drug tax ''is invariably limited to individuals who have
been arrested for drug crimes,'' Justice John M. Greaney wrote for the
court.

Mullins thus was being punished twice for one crime.

Checked-by: Don Beck