Charges Against Bouncing Bear Botanicals Dropped!

By Krystle Cole - April 13, 2010

 

The Jefferson County Kansas prosecutor dropped all 8 felony charges against Jonathan Sloan, the owner of Bouncing Bear Botanicals on April 7, 2010. This is a big win for Sloan as well as the entheogenic community at large. This reaffirms the fact that there is nothing illegal about selling, distributing, or being in possession of shamanic plants that contain scheduled substances.

Although all the charges were dropped, none of Sloan's property has been returned. The Jefferson County authorities consider his property to be evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation, so they will not release it. Beyond this, they are also still trying to slap him with a fine for not paying the Kansas drug tax.

Just to give you a little background on the Kansas drug tax, it is for "drug dealers" to be able to pay taxes on selling illegal substances. Drug dealers are required by Kansas law to purchase tax stamps from the Department of Revenue's Business Tax Bureau (K.S.A. 79-5204). The stamps are required to be affixed to the drugs when they are seized to prevent tax liability. If drugs are seized without stamps or the stamps which are affixed have expired, the possessor is liable for payment for the tax as well as a penalty of 100% of the assessment. It is important to emphasize the fact that this law pertains to drug dealers. Businesses and/or people that are selling legal substances are not required to pay the drug tax.

Bouncing Bear Botanicals was/is selling legal substances. Since the charges against Sloan have been dropped, it is obvious that even the Jefferson county prosecutor is admitting that there was no sale or possession of illegal substances. How can authorities require a business that is selling legal substances to pay the drug tax? It doesn't make sense. In my opinion, the local authorities were on a witch hunt. IT FAILED. Now they are trying to point the finger in any direction that they can to be able to save face for a botched operation that has not yielded any evidence substantial enough to make a conviction. How absurd, only in Kansas...