The Mystery of the Marihauna Tax Stamps

I was rather surprised to get the December 2005 issue of Scott Stamp Monthly (shown above) with a featured article called, "The Mystery of the Marihauna Tax Stamps."

The rather lengthy piece says that, "The just released Scott U.S. specialized catalogue lists the marihuana tax stamps for the first time, but no values have been assigned." The mystery has to do with how the stamps were used.

Referring to the illegal substance as "the intoxicating herb," the article switches back and forth between 'marijuana' and the alternate spelling 'marihuana' which is overprinted on stamps.

Apparently at one time the stamps were quite rare with only a 6 known copies in private collections. However, in February of this year The National Postal Museum released a ton of them on the market and now they are not as valuable as they once were.

To see some of the stamps mentioned in the article, click here.

For more on the marihuana tax act of 1937, click here.

To subscribe to Scott Stamp Monthly, read a sample issue and/or learn more about the new on-line edition , click here.