A retail-level tax on a commodity presents lot of problems, like this one, suggested by the authors of Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know: A marijuana ‘”bar” could set low per-joint prices and derive most of its revenue from a cover or entertainment charge.
A response to that maneuver shows up in today’s WSJ: “In 1944, a new wartime ‘cabaret tax’ went into effect, imposing a ruinous 30% (later merely a destructive 20% [Note: The WSJ never met a tax it didn’t hate]) excise on all receipts at any venue that served food or drink and allowed dancing.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323628804578348050712410108.html#printMode?KEYWORDS=cabaret
That tax was aimed at posh or swanky luxury entertainment, but it suggests a line of attack against the problem of shifting costs from a commodity to cover charges.
The Center for New Revenue 