Kansas Laws and Programs

Tax Stamps

Kansas continues to use a system of drug tax stamps like those abandoned by states like Utah after their state courts ruled them unconstitutional. These stamps are meant to be attached to illicit drugs, and in their absence drug dealers are liable for payment of both the tax and a 100 percent penalty of their assessed value, and are subject to other punishments. Kansas defines a drug dealer as someone who produces, manufactures, transports, ships, or imports into the state over 28 grams of marijuana or one gram or 10 or more doses of a controlled substance, or who possesses these amounts.

There are arrangements for dealers to buy tax stamps anonymously to avoid violating the self-incrimination constitutional protection. The Business Tax Bureau also cannot pass on information from drug tax stamp transactions to law enforcement or other parties. The drug taxes, which are due as soon as the dealer acquires the drugs, range from $2,000 per 50 doses of pills to $200 per gram of cocaine or methamphetamine to $0.90 per gram of dried marijuana plant.

Dealers who are found without tax stamps are subject to both civil and criminal penalties. Civil penalties may include a tax warrant and “jeopardy tax assessment” that allow the state to immediately seize a dealer's property in order to collect on the drug taxes owed. Also, dealers are not protected by laws that exempt personal property from seizure if the seizure results from drug tax warrants.

[Page 440]The criminal penalties for not paying the drug tax, which is a felony, include up to five years' imprisonment and/or a fine of as much as $10,000.

Other Laws

Kansas's Chapter 65-Public Health, Article 40 addresses alcoholism and intoxication treatment in the state. The purpose of this act is to provide for the development, establishment, and enforcement of public and private programs and services addressing the needs of citizens experiencing addiction issues. This law is administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary's office oversees the development and measurement of state, regional, and local plans and programs for the prevention and treatment of persons with alcohol or other drug addiction in cooperation with public and private agencies, organizations, and individuals. An important component of this law is to establish uniform methods for gathering and evaluating program evaluation data as it relates to the state, regional, and local plans.

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