Leary v. United States

The Marihuana Tax Act (the act) imposed both an occupational tax on marijuana dealers and a transfer tax on marijuana buyers. The occupational tax required dealers to register with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). To buy marijuana, an individual was required to apply to the IRS for an order form, providing his name and address as well as his occupational-tax registration number and the amount of marijuana to be transferred. Transfers to registered individuals were taxed at $1 per ounce, and transfers to unregistered individuals were taxed at $100 per ounce. The act made it illegal for a transferee to acquire marijuana without obtaining an order form or paying the transfer tax. The act also directed the IRS to provide the information on the order forms to state and local law-enforcement officials on request. In 1965, Dr. Timothy Leary (defendant) was arrested at the Mexican border for marijuana possession. At the time of Leary’s arrest, marijuana possession was a crime in all 50 states. Certain states, including New York, where Leary resided, and Texas, where Leary was arrested, exempted state-licensed marijuana manufacturers, pharmacists, medical personnel, researchers, and certain others from the ban on marijuana possession. Leary, who did not belong to an exempt category, was charged with transporting and concealing marijuana without paying transfer. The court of appeals affirmed Leary’s conviction, and the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider whether Leary’s conviction had violated his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.