Republicans are trying to use federal funding to stop people from buying weed

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Republican lawmakers have proposed a new bill to prevent low-income Americans from using federal financial aid to buy legal weed, and maintains a long history of using prohibitive laws to protect the most marginalized communities in the To reach the country.

The “Welfare Act, Not a Weed Act” introduced by MPs Tom Rice (R-SC) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN) aims to change the rules for recipients of Temporary Aid for Families in Need (TANF). This simple legislation would prohibit members of this federal financial aid program from using their TANF card in any business that sells marijuana in any form.

Rice “believes it would be an abuse of taxpayers’ money if people on welfare could use the funds to buy marijuana,” his spokesman told Marijuana Moment. “These tax dollars should instead be used by families who need help to meet real needs.”

“Cash benefits are already restricted in casinos, liquor stores and strip clubs,” added the legislature’s spokesman. “This bill simply closes a loophole that is preventing people from exploiting the system as legal marijuana purchases spread across the country.”

It is already nearly impossible for TANF recipients to use their government-issued debit cards in legal cannabis establishments as federal banking restrictions force these companies to operate on a cash-only basis. Rice’s proposal would prevent TANF cards from being used to withdraw cash from ATMs in cannabis stores, but it wouldn’t prevent anyone from withdrawing federal money from an ATM in a grocery store and, of course, buy weed with it.

“The absurdity of these efforts shows that Tom Rice is not a statesman, but rather a petulant kid who tries to take a serious subject and ridicule it,” NORML Political Director Justin Strekal told Marijuana Moment. “Anyone who joins him on this bill is only emphasizing that he is unwilling to engage in serious political decisions and should be voted out of office.”

The bill would block the use of TANF cards in all establishments that sell any form of marijuana, including medical dispensaries. Although most states have legalized medical cannabis in some form, federal health insurance programs do not reimburse patients for purchasing medical marijuana from a licensed pharmacy. Patients are therefore being forced to pay for their medication entirely out of their own pocket, and this new proposal would make the process even more cumbersome for low-income Americans.

“Millions of Americans living with chronic debilitating diseases rely on cannabis to treat their symptoms and improve their quality of life significantly. Cannabis IS a need for millions of patients, ”Queen Adesuyi, Policy Manager for the Office of National Affairs of the Drug Policy Alliance, told Marijuana Moment.

“Rather than coming up with a bill to ensure that underserved individuals, including veterans, have access to the medical benefits of cannabis, MP Tom Rice wants to exemplify the extent to which the drug war apparatus goes in monitoring and policing underserved people.”

“This law is a shameful culmination of the stigma of those with insufficient resources and the misguided stigma of cannabis, a medicinal plant,” added Adesuyi. “Rep. Rice has no relation to what the rest of the nation is about the importance of ending the war on cannabis and the needs of the millions of Americans who benefit from access to cannabis.”