Did you pay taxes on that blow?

North Carolina has an "unauthorized substance tax," requiring "any individual who possesses an unauthorized substance" to purchase tax stamps within 48 hours of purchasing the unauthorized substance.

In other words, state law requires that anyone who purchases cocaine, marijuana, etc., must purchase stamps from the Department of Revenue and affix the stamps to the drugs. People who purchase these stamps are not required to provide any identifying information, and tax department employees are not permitted to report them (it's a Class 1 misdemeanor), but... Seriously?

From an AP story on weird taxes:

The idea is that a peddler, even one who sells illegal substances,
should pay taxes. But in reality the revenue is only collected after
arrests, when dealers are slapped with a tax bill.

"The only folks we have buying those stamps are stamp collectors,''
said Kim Brooks, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Gov. Spitzer, of course, (who also wants to start DNA-testing everyone who gets arrested) thinks it's an awesome idea. Back to the AP:

In his budget proposal to the Legislature last week, he promised $17
million in revenue from it. He also wants to require Internet giants such
as Amazon.com to collect tax on an estimated $47 million in sales to New
Yorkers, who are currently on an honor system to report on their tax
returns how much they spend online.