The Boston Herald has a news article about the Electronic Benefit Transfer cards that Massachusetts uses to provide welfare benefits being used to buy crack cocaine:
Undercover cops allegedly used EBT cards at the market on several occasions to withdraw $80 in cash at a time, which was used to buy $40 worth of crack. The other $40 would be kept by the store as a fee, Essex First Assistant District Attorney Jack Dawley said in Lynn District Court yesterday. An undercover state trooper also witnessed many "blatant drug deals using EBT cards" at the store, Dawley said....
In the wake of Herald reports that found EBT cards were used to buy booze, lottery tickets, jewelry and other luxuries, the Legislature created a panel to review the program. O'Connell, who chairs it, wants restrictions on what can be bought. Current rules allow welfare recipients to withdraw up to $300 in state cash per month, in addition to federal food stipends.