cannabisnews.com: State To Let Man Challenge Marijuana Bill State To Let Man Challenge Marijuana Bill Posted by FoM on January 13, 2001 at 07:29:04 PT The Associated Press Source: Cincinnati Enquirer The state Revenue Cabinet will allow a Breathitt County man to challenge a $1 million tax bill for 517 marijuana plants found near his trailer home. Charles Thomas Jr., 27, was never criminally charged with growing the plants seized near his trailer a year ago. But Mr. Thomas was listed as the “dealer” responsible for the plants by a state police investigator in a report to the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet. The agency notified Mr. Thomas that under a 1994 law, he owed the state $1,038,078.38 in taxes, penalties and interest. And the law required him to post a bond in the amount of the tax — an impossibility for Mr. Thomas, a college dropout who works part time. Mr. Thomas sued in Franklin Circuit Court last fall, claiming the bond requirement violates his constitutional right of due process. The Revenue Cabinet decided this week that it would allow Mr. Thomas to make his case without posting bond. “We've agreed to give him his chance to protest and present evidence through the normal protest process here in the cabinet,” said Dana Mayton, commissioner of the cabinet's Department of Law. She said the cabinet has the authority to effectively waive certain requirements to avoid the risk of a case going to trial. “I guess it's good news that I'm getting a hearing,” Mr. Thomas told the Courier-Journal in a telephone interview. “But I still don't see why I have to prove I don't owe this tax. They need to change this law, it's crazy.” The Kentucky General Assembly passed the Marijuana and Controlled Substance Tax as a way to get tough on drug dealers. It requires people who possess controlled substances to pay an annual tax. The tax is $1,000 per marijuana plant. If plants are discovered and the tax has not been paid, a fine of $1,000 per plant is added to the tax bill. Mr. Thomas got his tax bill after investigators concluded that Mr. Thomas was growing the marijuana, because of its proximity to his trailer home. The records list Mr. Thomas as the only suspect in the case. However, a Breathitt County grand jury later concluded that evidence presented by the state police was insufficient to justify any indictment of Mr. Thomas. Ms. Mayton said details of the agreement with Mr. Thomas were yet to be worked out, but she expected Mr. Thomas and the cabinet would agree to settle the lawsuit soon. Ms. Mayton said a “protest officer” from the cabinet will review records from Mr. Thomas and his lawyers and probably arrange a meeting with them. That officer will make a recommendation to Ms. Mayton, who said she will decide whether the tax is due. For large and unusual cases such as this, Ms. Mayton said she makes the decisions after consulting Cabinet Secretary Mike Haydon. Note: $1 million in taxes assessed under law. Source: Cincinnati Enquirer (OH) Published: Saturday, January 13, 2001Address: 2055 Reading Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45202 Copyright: 2001 The Cincinnati Enquirer Contact: letters enquirer.com Website: http://enquirer.com/today/ Feedback http://enquirer.com/editor/letters.html CannabisNews Cannabis - Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by legalizeit on January 13, 2001 at 09:04:30 PT Time for a new tax... on stupidity!For instance...$1,000 per drivel of idiotic prohibitionist rhetoric. ($3000 if said drivel appears on a national news program!)$2,000 for parroting of abovementioned prohibitionist rhetoric.$5,000 to each officer who says, "I don't make the laws, just enforce them."$10,000 for each time jack-booted law-enforcement thugs ruin someone's life while "just doing their job." $20,000 for each anti-prohibition news item conveniently ignored by the media.$500,000 for each dolt who says drug prohibition is needed for the CCCHHHILLLDRUUUNNNN!$1,000,000 to each hypocrite politician who admits to smoking pot yet is responsible for enacting even more draconian laws against its use.$10,000,000 for each innocent bystander killed because of prohibition-induced crime or because some drug-enforcing Barney Fifes picked the wrong house to raid.$50,000,000 to each dumb cluck who says that marijuana is not a medicine, and/or harrasses the sick and dying, when he/she has no experience whatsoever on the matter.$100,000,000 to whomever came up with the idea of establishing the DEA.$500,000,000 to Barry McCaffrey, just for being a total jerk who can't even get his facts straight!and...$1,000,000,000 to bureaucrats who learned nothing from the failure of Prohibition, and keep appropriating countless billions more for a very similar prohibition effort which like Prohibition before it was a dismal failure from the very beginning! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ed Carpenter on January 13, 2001 at 07:43:11 PT: $1 million tax on plants found near his home... In a word, ridiculous. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: