A tax on bongs in Maryland?

Posted by Jeff Quinton on January 31, 2008

Senator Anthony Muse of Prince George’s County has proposed a $20 tax on the purchase of bongs and water pipes.

Muse says the tobacco accessories are now subject only to the regular 6 percent state sales tax. He says the $20 tax proposal isn’t intended to raise revenue, but to act as a deterrent for young people who smoke marijuana.

Muse sponsored a new Maryland law that requires people to be at least 18, the legal smoking age, before buying tobacco accessories such as bongs. Muse says he’d like to outlaw bongs because they’re so seldom used to smoke legal products, but he knows such a bill would not pass.

Muse said the $20 tax would apply only to bongs, not to rolling papers or other items used by both marijuana and tobacco users.

“They’re not for smoking cigarettes or tobacco,” said Muse, who said his tax could double the cost of a bong. Muse said he wasn’t sure how much his $20 bong tax would raise.