People who grow marijuana are now required to pay a tax of $775 on each plant, according to an amendment in Idaho's Illegal Drug Tax Act.
The law requires the grower to tie a stamp with that price tag to the plant, irrespective of its size."The reason for taxing growing plants was because we were having criminal charges tossed out," said John Ruebelmann, deputy attorney general with the Idaho Tax Commission.
But, in deference to the special needs of the grower, the stamp has been laminated to make it waterproof for watering.
Growers will get credit for the stamp they tie to a marijuana plant. After the plant is harvested they can send the stamp to the Tax Commission and receive an equivalent amount in regular tax stamps which can be affixed to packages.
The figure of $775 was chosen for a growing plant because an average one can yield 222 grams of the drug.
The law as it existed before did not specifically require a tax for growing plants. It only said growers must affix tax stamps to 42 grams or more of marijuana. And they claimed they were unsure when a plant had reached that mark.
"The magistrates concluded that it may be a crime but the guy was having difficulty in estimating when the crime was being committed without having to uproot the plant," Ruebelmann said.