Drug Tax Foils Prosecution of Drug Dealers in Texas

The 5th Amendment of Constitution protects Americans from being punished twice for same crime. This concept, known as “double jeopardy”, caused prosecutors in 1989 to literally beg state comptroller's office to stop accepting tax payments by drug dealers. The reason? A Texas Criminal Court of Appeal ruled that state law assessing taxes on illegal drugs constituted a “punishment”. As a result, requiring payment of tax constituted double jeopardy if taxpayer had already been charged criminally.

In an attempt to get their clients off on drug charges, criminal attorneys began advising them to rush to pay their drug–related taxes. The theory was that once taxes were paid, drug dealer could not be prosecuted because doing so would constitute a second punishment! The appellate court agreed with theory and state comptroller immediately stopped collecting Texas drug tax.

Basically, most of these programs contact providers to provide discounts to program member card holders. Some have many questions about validity of these programs. I had doubts myself. However it is really how I look at healthcare in general that raised my doubts. Most of us have a “Health Insurance” mindset and we expect all of our providers to be available and only pay $30 for care we need. The approach is different with medical discount cards.

The best way to look at such a program is to evaluate where you stand with your current health care coverage: If you do not have insurance for Dental Care or Vision Care, then you have to work at making best as to what you have. Medical Discount Card programs provide a good alternative and they do save you money. However, I learned it takes persistence and a little work. The benefit you get with persistence and little bit of work is you have control over your costs and care you receive.

Another immediate concern I had was my provider was not listed with plan I had. However, I researched Dentist’s available with my plan and found someone suitable for care I needed. So extra time spent on finding a dentist gave me two benefits: (1) Control over my care and (2) Savings on services itself.

So even though health costs and coverage for those costs are sky rocketing. The middle class American family can still save money with a little research and persistence. As we have access to less and less services, there are alternatives that we can take advantage of to help our families.

Topher John is a specialist at building internet small businesses. His has an interest in the business world and the healthcare industry, specifically how it relates to the family and over all individual health.