Schwarzenegger Bans Welfare Cards at Psychics

[Fnord]

Doood, I was totally getting ripped off in high school! I'd pay, like, $10 for a dime bag, but it was never anything like 10 oz, bro. But, that's probably a good thing, too, cuz I would have been b-a-k-e-d.

Yeah, there were no set standards. A "Dime Bag" to some meant "High Grade" (uncut, with no stems or seeds), while to others it meant "Ten Ounces". Ten dollars worth of Michigan Drainage Ditch wouldn't do much, back then (1970s).

 

[Percent]

Yes, CA uses the IL and NC style debit/ATM cards you guys are describing. The earlier scandal out here was that these were being used at bars and strip clubs. No big surprise about the pot stores but I have to admit the psychics was a new one to me. A lot of cash back under the table (after it moves around).

 

[quadraginta]

I have heard this, too. But this definitely migrated to lid=ounce by the early seventies. At least where I lived.

<snip>

This was my experience as well. I never encountered anyone selling by volume (excluding Mk1 Eyeball of course, which happened frequently enough), and that experience included enough instances across enough geography that if it had been very common I ought to have run across it a time or two. I can't speak with any personal knowledge of anything before '68, but by then a lid was just a bag of herb somewhat approximating the size of an oz.

It sounds perfectly plausible, though, and the proportions would work out pretty close, assuming a certain amount of loft on the pile on the lid. I just never ran across anyone actually doing it.

 

[quadraginta]

Yeah, there were no set standards. A "Dime Bag" to some meant "High Grade" (uncut, with no stems or seeds), while to others it meant "Ten Ounces". Ten dollars worth of Michigan Drainage Ditch wouldn't do much, back then (1970s).

There were set standards if people made specific claims of weight. Scales were common enough that arguments could easily ensue if someone was shortchanged. I agree that many transactions were not made on the basis of any such claim though, just "Well, I want this much money for this much." Most exchanges of an oz. or more generally involved some assurance of weight. Dime and nickel bags were for pikers and dilettantes.

I never once met anyone anywhere who thought a dime bag meant ten ounces. If I had I would have immediately figured them for a nark.

Yes, narks were often that ignorant and transparent.

 

[Fnord]

... I never once met anyone anywhere who thought a dime bag meant ten ounces. If I had I would have immediately figured them for a nark. Yes, narks were often that ignorant and transparent.

That explains it, then. It was a narcotics cop who said that "a dime bag is ten ounces" during an anti-drug lecture in 9th grade Social Studies (1970-1971). I never did bother to check it out.

 

[bookitty]

Saw that in the news yesterday. Frankly, I was surprised that the debit cards could be used at psychics. Who's brilliant idea was that?

Medical marijuana might be another story. If you have a prescription, that's a suggestion that it is a necessity rather than purely discretionary.

It is merely a whiff of a suggestion. You can get a medical marijuana for nearly anything from glaucoma to insomnia. There are doctors who specialize in pot prescriptions. Finding them is easy, they advertise in the paper. I have heard that chiropractors can issue a prescription but haven't verified that.

Nearly every "card-carrying" pot head I know was a casual user before and is a legal user now. With the exception of one cancer-victim who still buys pot even though he's now healthy, none of them had an illness that necessitated pot.

Even for people who have a prescription, medical marijuana has problems. It is impossible to regulate a consistent dose, for one. Personally I'm opposed to the idea of largely untested substances being sold by prescription.

 

[Olowkow]

Schwarzenegger Bans Welfare Cards at Psychics

Does anyone know how they define "psychic" so as to exclude religions?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

A more interesting aspect of this issue is the fact with debit cards for welfare payments instead of checks, the state knows what you are spending your money on. I wonder if it took legislation to start defining what someone on welfare may or may not purchase? Are alcohol and cigarettes also not allowed? Junk food? Porn? How about violent video games? How about anything that isn't a necessity like video games in general?

What an opportunity here to provide just food, shelter and other necessities for people on welfare. On the other hand, if someone is on state or federal disability, (as opposed to a private policy) do we impose the same restrictions?


As for other prescription drugs, lots of state Medicaid programs have limited formularies for covered drugs. The first one I looked up, New Jersey, says pot is not a covered drug. The OP article is about welfare payments, not medical coverage. In most states (maybe all?) if you are on welfare you qualify for state Medicaid medical coverage. But they are separate programs.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Does anyone know how they define "psychic" so as to exclude religions?

Do they take debit cards now at the collection basket? I suppose that was inevitable.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Saw that in the news yesterday. Frankly, I was surprised that the debit cards could be used at psychics. Who's brilliant idea was that?...

Of course they can and so can cone use redit cards. Lots of psychics have commercial outlets just like any business. And at psychic fairs, just like at art fairs, a lot of individuals take debit and credit cards.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Nope a lid is a lid actually (or so i was told by older dopers) , it was a volume measure as opposed to a weight measure, allegedly the lid to a Prince Albert can or some such.

You were told so it must be a fact.

When I was a teen, a lid was an ounce. The idea the term came from the volume of an actual lid is interesting though. Never heard that before.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

..That just seems wrong to me, if someone has it prescribed, it is legal, if they are going to a store that has been through all the proper paperwork, that is legal, so what is the problem? It would seem to me, like if i were in a position of power, and due to the plague of prescription abuse that is going on ( 1/3rd of all scripts given out in my province are false.) , i decided to make it so that those on welfare can no longer use their ODB (ontario drug benefit.) on prescribed narcotics.

As a bit of a thought experiment, if pot were legal, and sold in the same way as booze, i would support the decision.

The rest, i agree with. Welfare should be to keep you reasonably comfortable, in good health and in no danger ( due to living on the street, or without heat for example. ) , not to let you get messed up, or indulge in other expense laden recreational activities. I am not saying that there should be no money given to those on welfare for recreation, but that certain activities, are simply not something the government should pay for.

As a final thought ( and i think this may come of as cold. ), most people get messed up ( drinking, for example.) to relieve stress from work/school. If one is not going to school or working, ( and having their way payed for.) They shouldn't be drinking, they should be using this time to learn a new skill , to get gainful employment, so they can not be a drain on the system. Then if they want to use their own money to buy a Texas micky of southern comfort, and a joint bigger than my arm, let them. Quite literally, they earned it.

Your point is also grounds for some big lawsuit by the ACLU. That's why I asked if this was the guvnor acting on his own, legislation or what. I doubt it is constitutional (state constitution) for the guvnor to start telling welfare recipients which legal products they can purchase, unless there is legislation that provides for lots of restricted things.

But the fact pot has a duel status, legal in the state, illegal in the country, could give the state the edge in a lawsuit. But the psychic? That's surely going to end up in court.

In this state, one type of welfare was going to alcoholics who were too brain damaged to work. Rather than give them a check twice a month, the state changed to paying their rent and utilities and whatever, through a third party. If I recall, the money manager could be someone the alcoholic chose, but the money had to go to rent and utilities and that was audited.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Doood, I was totally getting ripped off in high school! I'd pay, like, $10 for a dime bag, but it was never anything like 10 oz, bro. But, that's probably a good thing, too, cuz I would have been b-a-k-e-d.

Is that a Cheech and Chong quote or something?

A "dime" means $10 and a nickel is $5. The volume depends on the drug, the neighborhood and the decade.

 

[Olowkow]

A more interesting aspect of this issue is the fact with debit cards for welfare payments instead of checks, the state knows what you are spending your money on. I wonder if it took legislation to start defining what someone on welfare may or may not purchase? Are alcohol and cigarettes also not allowed?.....

Back in the early '70s I got food stamps for a short while, and when I discovered that I couldn't buy beer with them, we bought the malt and sugar and made our own.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

The idea was that there was a move away from the food stamp coupons, which created this huge second economy for businesses. The coupons had to be printed, distributed, then redeemed, which created a huge amount of side costs. In the 1990s Illinois moved to what was called the LINK system, which was the equivalent of an ATM card that retailers who sold food could use, the idea was to reduce the costs of the system. The other issue being the idea that this would reduce the black market exchange of food stamp coupons for cash at usually a 50% rate.

Now the issue that has probably happened in California is that they have switched to standard style debit cards and also combined the food stamp programs with the cash assistance program. But this would have been a huge oversight by the state administration.

Food stamps (now dispensed by debit card in all states, I'm pretty sure) is also separate from a welfare debit card and medical coupons that you use to pay for medical services if you are on Medicaid.

See my earlier post #28.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I have heard this, too. But this definitely migrated to lid=ounce by the early seventies. At least where I lived.



Yes, that's what I was thinking. I've stood behind people buying food with their public assistance cards here in NC and they have to segregate their groceries into two orders: stuff they can put on the assistance card and stuff they cannot. The POS terminal will refuse some things when the public assistance card is used (I assume the cashier has to tell it in advance what the payment type will be?).

I assumed this was the rule nationwide, but apparently not.

But that could have been specific food stamp program, an actual welfare payment, or some program like WIC (women infants and children) which provides some specific nutritional products for pregnant women and mothers with young children.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Yeah, there were no set standards. A "Dime Bag" to some meant "High Grade" (uncut, with no stems or seeds), while to others it meant "Ten Ounces". Ten dollars worth of Michigan Drainage Ditch wouldn't do much, back then (1970s).

10 ounces of pot is not exactly the amount an average user would be buying. If someone is buying 10 ounces, even back in the 70s, chances are they were splitting it up for resale.

I could see the slang meaning high quality or something besides $10. That's the nature of slang. But I can't imagine 5 oz or 10 oz ever being a common quantity for purchase. At that quantity one usually buys a pound or a kilo or half of either if those.

 

[madurobob]

Even for people who have a prescription, medical marijuana has problems. It is impossible to regulate a consistent dose, for one. Personally I'm opposed to the idea of largely untested substances being sold by prescription.

Oh yes, I understand that and I agree. It should be legal and regulated as tobacco an alcohol, not sold by prescription under the guise of medicine. But the State chose to recognize marijuana as a medicine by authorizing and licensing clinics to dispense the stuff by prescription (and only by prescription).

So, on the one hand the State is acknowledging that marijuana is a legitimate medicine that anyone can use if they have a prescription. On the other hand the State says welfare recipients can't buy marijuana with their public assistance funds, even if they have a prescription and a very real medical need.

One kinda puts the lie to the other. The state is saying both "marijuana is a legitimate medicine" and "marijuana is not a legitimate medicine".

Are there any other prescription drugs California denies to those on public assistance? I bet not.

 

[madurobob]

Of course they can and so can cone use redit cards. Lots of psychics have commercial outlets just like any business. And at psychic fairs, just like at art fairs, a lot of individuals take debit and credit cards.

As I said, my experience with the cards in NC is that they are NOT just like debit/credit cards. There are built in limits to what can be purchased. Alcohol and tobacco are on the blocked list, for instance. That's why I was surprised they could be used at psychics in CA. It sounds like CA has/had NO restrictions to how the cards could be used. I find this ridiculous.

 

[quadraginta]

As I said, my experience with the cards in NC is that they are NOT just like debit/credit cards. There are built in limits to what can be purchased. Alcohol and tobacco are on the blocked list, for instance. That's why I was surprised they could be used at psychics in CA. It sounds like CA has/had NO restrictions to how the cards could be used. I find this ridiculous.

In NC people can buy candy with their assistance cards at the grocery store, but not toothpaste.

Go figure.