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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1990)
WEATHER INDEX News.9 Tuesday, mostly sunny and colder, high 35-40, Editorial.4 north wind 10-15 miles per hour. Tuesday night, Sports.5 clear and cold, low around 15. Wednesday, Arts & Entertainment.6 sunny, high around 40. Classifieds.7 _________A________ February 27, 1990 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No. ? Bill to tax drugs advanced by Legislature By Emily Rosenbaum Senior Reporter The Nebraska Legislature on Monday advanced a bill that would require anyone in pos session of marijuana or a controlled substance to pay a tax on those illegal drugs. LB260, introduced by Sen. Gerald Conway of Wayne, would establish a tax of SI00 for each ounce of mari juana and $150 for each gram of a controlled substance, to be paid to the Department of Revenue. The depart ment would issue a certificate to dealers verifying that the tax was paid. The bill would apply to “deal ers,” meaning anyone who manufac tures, produces, ships, transports or imports into Nebraska, or in any manner acquires or possesses 6 or more ounces of marijuana, 7 or more grams of any controlled substance sold by weight, or 10 or more dosage units of any controlled substance not sold by weight. Under the bill, which advanced to a second round of debate by a 27 to 3 vole, dealers would have to go to the Department of Revenue to pay taxes on their drugs. If police later arrested a dealer and dis covered he or she didn *t pay the taxes, the dealer would have to pay the tax and a fine equal to the amount of the tax in addition to facing criminal penalties, the bill states. Under the bill, facts contained in the tax report required by the bill could not be released by the Depart ment of Revenue. That is to ensure that Fifth Amend ment protection against self-incrimi nation is maintained and the bill re tains its constitutionality, said Sen. Tim Hall of Omaha. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said the bill is “affirmative encour agement to sell more drugs.” By raising drug dealers’ cost of doing business, he said, the Legisla ture would be encouraging them to sell more drugs. “This bill, in my opinion, is not going to make any difference in the amount of drugs being sold,” he said. “It casts an aura of legitimacy on the sale of drugs.” The bill’s attempt is to take away “some of the ill-gotten gain,” Hall said. ‘‘I don’t want to leave the impres sion that this is a godsend regarding the drug war,” he said. Conway said the main thrust of the bill would be to “extract some of the economic gains” that are made ille gally. Sen. Don Wescly of Lincoln said the bill represents a “bizarre twist of fate.’ ’ He said it sends a message that the Legislature is going to “sic the IRS on drug dealers.” He said it would resemble the case of gangster AI Capone, who engaged in numerous illegal activities and was eventually prosecuted for federal tax evasion. Conway said similar legislation has been enacted in 17 states and that Minnesota’s model has been studied by the Revenue Committee. Minne sota’s Department of Revenue has been able to collect a tax on illegal drugs that * ‘ far exceeded ’ ’ the cost of maintaining the program, he said. An amendment by Conway to change the tax to 50 percent of the street value of the marijuana or con trolled substance failed. Under the amendment, dealers arrested for pos sessing marijuana or a controlled substance who had not paid the lax would have to pay a fine equal to 25 percent of the street value added to the original lax. Fifty percent of the tax would go to See TAX on 3 March held for environmental justice James P. Webb Staff Reporter University of Nebraska students and other protesters helped carry a na tionwide message to government leaders Monday to protect remaining native virgin forests owned by the government The protesters marched from Broyhill Fountain to the offices of U.S. Sens. James Exon and Bob Kerrey in the Federal Build ing They then marched to Gov. Kay Orr’s reception room and Attorney General Robert Spire's office at the State Capitol ' The Nebraska Much for Environmental Justice, organised by Ecology Now in cob- g junction with student protests in 50 states, v called lor support of the Forestry Protection Act of 1990 and for increased paper recy cling in Nebraska. Tne act, which has not been introduced in Congress, would halt commercial har vesting in national forests, ten exports on raw wood, retain and restore forests and provide alternatives for workers in the for estry industry. J Burger, project coordinator tor ecol ogy Now, said exploitation of 1,000-year old forests owned by the U.S. Forest Serv ice is destroying complex ecosystems. That destruction contributes to depletion of the ozone layer and displaces native animals, he said. Dave Regan of Ecology now said Con gress subsidizes commercial harvesting by appropriating money to the Forest Service, allowing it to sell trees for less than their value and to construct roads in national forests, giving access to limber. “We do have a right and a duly to get Congress io adopt better policy on our fed eral lands," Regan said. “We’re directing our attention to the Forest Service because that’s where we can have the greatest effect," he said. As national forests are slowly converted into tree farms, their "biological blueprint is lost forever," he said. Protesters said they want Spire to inves tigate the city of Lincoln’s purchase of land in Cooper Park at Sixth and D streets. Protesters also said they support Orr s executive order in October requiring suite government to use recycled paper whenever possible. napaamiq 11 IBM 11 III III INI III I _ Joe Heinzle/Daily Nebraskan University of Nebraska-Lincoln junior Steve Arnold, 20, makes a state ment Monday outside the Nebraska Union. Arnold was participating in the Nebraska March for Environmental Justice. LB799 advanced Monday, proposes harsher penalties By Victoria Ayotte Senior Reporter , The Nebraska Legislature on Monday ad vanced to a second round of debate a bill to stiffen penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. LB799, sponsored by state Sen. Emil Beyer of Gretna, would include drugs in the driving undcr-the-influence laws and would authorize the Department of Motor V ehicles to automati cally revoke drivers’ licenses 30 days after arrest Officers could arrest those who refuse to submit to breath, blood or urine tests for alcohol, and those who do not pass those tests. Officers would impound the drivers’ licenses and issue 30-day temporary licenses. Officers then would report to the director of the Dcpartmentof Motor Vehicles within seven days, and revocations would become auto matic 30 days after arrests unless petitions for hearings were filed. Petitions would have to be filed within 10 days, and the hearings would be within 20 days after that. Within seven days of hearings, the director of motor vehicles would decide if licenses should be revoked. Licenses would be revoked for one year for the first offense, three years on second offense and five years for third and later offenses. Beyer said the bill would provide a “swift and sure” suspension of driving privileges, which would deter drunk drivers. But Sen. Tim Hall of Omaha said the bill would be a “serious policy change’ ’ in moving the driving-while-intoxicaicd procedure out of the courts and making it an administrative pro cedure. Hall said drivers facing license revocation “should have the opportunity to go to court,” and the bill would pul them at the mercy of the director of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Sen. Rex Haberman of Imperial said sena tors should look at the issue from the point of view of the victims, not the drunk drivers. . “Consider the parents who have had mem bers of their family killed by drunk drivers,” Haberman said. “You can’t bring a life back. “If the legislation passes and it saves one life — just one — it’s well worth it. We need stricter laws. We need them to be enforced and if they’re going to be enforced faster and quicker in the Departmentof Motor Vehicles, so be it.” Sen. LaVon Crosby of Lincoln also said legislators arc spending loo much time defend ing drunk drivers and not their victims. “We work too hard at protecting the people who are breaking the law,” Crosby said. Sen. Howard Lamb of Ansclmo said, “We could nit-pick this to death, but the basic down to-earth fact is, ‘Do you want to reduce drunk driving?”’ Sen. John Lindsay of Omaha said the bill’s automatic revocation provision would be “crumbling” the principle that people are innocent until proven guilty. Beyer said the bill provides a lough ap proach, but “drunk driving is a serious crime.” The bill now faces a second round of consid eration, select file, with several senators plan ning to propose amendments. Community leaders denouce hate groups By David Burchell Staff Reporter C coalition of community leaders de nounced the Ku Klux Klan and other hale groups Monday during a press conference on the east steps of the County-City Building, 555 S. 10th St. About 85 people gathered for the press conference to hear speakers call the Klan a racist organization that does not belong in Lincoln. The Rev. Norman Leach of the Lincoln Interfaith Council said those who attended and spoke al t* '■ conference were responding to recent advertisements for new Klan members in local newspapers. Leach said the purpose of the conference was to demonstrate that the community thinks the KKK is “abhorrent.*’ A petition denouncing the Klan was circu lated. Leach said the coalition had gathered more than 500 signatures before the press conference. The Rev. Michcal Combs, a representative of the National Association for the Advance ment of Colored People, said the Klan "has been a foe of freedom and democracy since it was founded in the 1860s.” John Taylor, representing the Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights, said the same haired that causes discrimination against racial and religious groups is behind homophobia against gays and lesbians. Donna Polk, director of the counseling center at the Multi-Cultural Awareness Center in Lincoln, said this was the most serious issue she had been involved with in recent years. She said the names of petition signers would not be released to the public to protect signers from possible retribution.