In May 2024, former Raleigh firefighter Nicholas Banister and his wife Amanda were arrested on dozens of drug trafficking charges.
It all stemmed from an Alcohol Law Enforcement investigation into illegal drug sales in Glenwood South and other downtown areas.
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While in jail, they were hit with another punishment: An excise tax from the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
The tax bills totaled $578,000 for the drugs agents say they found in the couple's home on Long Cove Court.
"It's wrong, let me put it that way," Laura Webb of the North Carolina Justice Center says about the state's program to tax illicit drugs and alcohol.
Webb said the tax is aggressive.
"They can take money out of your bank account, they can garnish your wages, they can put liens on property," Webb said.
North Carolina is one of 17 states where people with certain amounts of drug are supposed to pay taxes by purchasing drug stamps from the state.
There's an elaborate chart breaking down the tax rates for different types of drugs and illegal alcohol. Things like marijuana are taxed by gram. Illegal alcohol is taxed by the gallon.
By state law, the Department of Revenue cannot share information with law enforcement about who's buying stamps. Records show there wouldn't be a lot of that information to share, anyway.
The state collected almost $20 million in drug taxes the past two years. Less than $800 of that came from stamp purchases, including just $30 in purchased stamps last year.
"Most of them are stamp collectors," Webb says of people who actually go down to the Department of Revenue or send in a mail-in form to report drugs and pay for the stamps.
"People don't want to go down to a government agency and say 'Hey, I have illicit drugs, I need a stamp.'"
The NC Justice Center wants state lawmakers to join seven other states that repealed their drug tax program. It includes Arizona, the first state that enacted it back 1982.
At the very least, the NC Justice Center wants to make it more reasonable so people have a reasonable chance of getting out of debt, "8% interest annually. It's a lifetime punishment."
As with the Banisters, that tax bill comes even if you aren't convicted or convicted yet. And for those who do spend time in jail, Webb says the tax is another obstacle for people once their time is served, "This is what I would think is the definition of double jeopardy."
Under state law, 75% of the money collected goes to the investigating and arresting law enforcement agency. The rest goes to the state's general fund.
Webb says much of the pushback on repealing the law is the bad optics of taking money away from police. There have been no efforts by the General Assembly in recent years to at least float the idea of repealing the tax.