LEGISLATORS FIGURE OUT PROHIBITION DOESN'T WORK

To the Editor:

Tennessee lawmakers sought an end-around on self-incrimination in
2005 when they became the 23rd state legislature to enact a tax on
the possession of illegal drugs. Fortunately, the appeals court saw
through this and overturned the tax as "arbitrary, capricious and
unreasonable." ("Bredesen has doubts about tax on illegal drugs," Sept. 14)

Do I find the tax arbitrary? Not really. It seems to have a built-in
target market. Do I find it capricious? Yes, if you mean that it was
an impulsive and not-well-thought-out attempt to take advantage of
people who are prone to a specific sort of "questionable" behavior;
has a lower burden of proof than the criminal possession of the
actual substance does; and only offers a very short means of redress
(48 hours) to make it hard to satisfy the conditions of the law.

Do I find it unreasonable? Definitely, in that it offers no real,
suitable alternative to tap into this giddily hoped-for revenue
windfall that many of these people would gladly pay under other,
legal circumstances.

So, hopefully one day, the legislature will address this taxation,
without violating the Bill of Rights. The only way to do that is to
first decriminalize and then tax.

Prohibition doesn't work, and you would think the revenuers would
know that by now in this state.

Lars Hall

Murfreesboro 37129