The tax act required the possessor to make a tax payment for a stamp, however the government required the marijuana to be in hand to get the stamp...but possession without the stamp was illegal. The Marijuana Tax Act made possession without registration tax evasion, just like the National Firearms Act of 1934 (which the MTA was modeled after). Again, possession was illegal from the inception of the MTA in 1937 to 1969 when Timothy Leary sued the federal government because the MTA violated the 5th amendment for self incrimination.