From The Tennessean: State revenue agents have returned to this weekend’s Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee, to collect fees on concertgoers’ illegal substances, as part of the state’s controversial drug tax.
“It’s not an effort to curb drug use — for some, a Bonnaroo tradition that has sent tens to the hospital and a few to the morgue — but to make sure state and local authorities recoup drug enforcement costs.
“For an ounce and a half of marijuana, just above the limit for a misdemeanor drug charge, the tax amounts to about $165, said Al Laney, director of tax enforcement for the state revenue department.”
The drug tax was started in early 2005. At that year’s Bonnaroo, between 30 and 40 concertgoers were taxed. In 2006, that number rose to 147.
Bonnaroo runs through Sunday; all 80,000 tickets to the event have been sold.
Read more about the drug tax here.