NASHVILLE, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- A Tennessee man who won a legal fight against the state's tax on illegal drugs is suing to get his money back.
Steven Waters has filed a class-action lawsuit, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported Tuesday. If he wins this one, the state might be required to return $10.4 million collected under the 2005 law.
The law requires anyone buying illegal drugs to pay a tax by buying a tax stamp, although that does not make the purchase legal. In Waters' case, after he paid an undercover informant $12,000 for a kilogram of cocaine, he was billed $55,000 for the unpaid tax.
The state Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional in a 3-2 decision. The majority said the state's tax power limits it to taxing "merchants, peddlers and privileges."
The court did not find the law violates the right to avoid self-incrimination because drug buyers can purchase the stamps without revealing their identities.
