Food stamps for Pot in Colorado?

In a recent interview with The New Yorker magazine, President Barack Obama said he doesn’t think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.” He even went so far as to remind us of his own drug use (a disqualifier for Top Secret security clearance, by the way),

“As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” the president said.

Well, guess what, the liberal progressives out in Colorado share his assessment. Since pot is no different from cigarettes and no more dangerous than alcohol, as part of the welfare nanny-state expansion, Colorado lawmakers have decided Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, aka Food Stamps, can be used for withdrawals at pot shops. Unbelievable.

As reported by Fox News, Colorado pot shops currently have ATMs where welfare recipients can withdraw cash using their EBT cards.

A Democrat-controlled State Senate committee rejected the Republicans’ proposal to close this loophole. Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, said Colorado’s new legal pot industry needs to make sure not to invite federal scrutiny through improper cash withdrawals at recreational or medical marijuana stores. “Already we are operating an industry which is not allowed under federal law,” said Marble, one of the chief lawmakers involved with Colorado’s marijuana regulation bills.

However, the opposing liberal progressive perspective is always centered on victimization:

“I’m not comfortable limiting that access until I’m certain we’ve done that due diligence to make sure people can access their benefits when they need to,” Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, said.

I think State Senator Aguilar should go back and read the original intent for the US Food Stamp program, which was to provide healthy nutritious foods — American grown — for lower income families.

This whole matter is completely political and part of the grand design for progressives, where there are no boundaries, no moral standards, and the government — ultimately the American taxpayer — will pick up the tab.

And to think the federal government, under Obama, has produced ads to get even more people on food stamps, including ads appearing in Mexico. Is this just another example of what Alexis de Tocqueville described in the 1800s in his book Democracy in America: The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.

Is this just another case of political bribery by lawmakers for the return of electoral support, i.e. votes?

Do you think American taxpayers should subsidize the “legal” use of drugs for Coloradans? Of course, if you seek to establish some parameters or restraints on EBT card usage, you’re just a mean, bad, evil, nasty, intolerant, hater Republican.

Well, call me whatever names you wish, but this is wrong and anyone supporting EBT card use at pot shops, strip clubs, and anything not related to actual food is flat out wrong. The state of Colorado conducted a recall vote against several Colorado Democrat State Senators over the issue of gun rights — perhaps lightning will strike twice in the same place?

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.