Pubdate: Sat, 31 Jan 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Kristen Wyatt, The Associated Press

BILL ADDS POT TO LIST OF BANS

Welfare, Food Stamps Could Not Be Used to Buy Marijuana.

Welfare money or food stamps for marijuana? It's an urban legend that 
won't go away in Colorado, and state lawmakers this year are poised 
to pass a law clarifying that public benefit cards can't be used at 
dispensary ATMs.

A bill facing its first hearing next week in the state Senate would 
add marijuana businesses and strip clubs to the list of Colorado 
businesses where electronic benefit transfer cards-called EBTs - 
can't be used to withdraw cash. Liquor stores, casinos and gun shops 
already have such limitations.

Republican Sen. Vicki Marble said marijuana dispensaries need to be 
added to avoid possible federal intervention if there's evidence of 
public benefits being spent on pot.

"We stand to lose a lot if we don't show we are trying" to prevent 
tax money for pot, Marble said.

"The growers here put in a lot of time and effort. A raid would be 
absolutely devastating to our state."

Marble's bill failed last year amid concerns that because pot shops 
are concentrated in poor neighborhoods, dispensary ATMs may be the 
closest source of cash for people without a bank.

This year, Democrats say they support the idea. They say that adding 
dispensaries to the list may help prevent federal intervention.

U. S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., last year suggested a new federal 
law banning the use of EBT cards at dispensaries. Currently, there is 
no national standard on public benefit cards at dispensaries.

In Washington state, a 2012 law blocks businesses that ban those 
under 18 - including strip clubs, bars and now-licensed pot shops - 
from letting people use EBTs to withdraw money.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom