http://www.examiner.com/article/welf...north-carolina

News of a proposed welfare lottery ban in North Carolina is not going over very well on Friday, Jan. 25. Discussions on Twitter today appear to have tweeters split about the news, with some believing it to be a good thing, while others disagree, believing it is just another way for the government to take away another right from United States citizens. The Christian Post reported that the new ban seeks to prohibit welfare recipients, and people in bankruptcy from playing the lottery.

In the state of North Carolina, there are a reported 1.7 million people reported to be currently receiving food stamps, according to ABC News, and all would be banned from taking part in the state lottery if the proposals are passed.

Rep. Paul Stam has said, "We're giving them welfare to help them live, and yet by selling them a ticket, we're taking away their money that is there to provide them the barest of necessities," according to the News Record.

The ban has been talked about for months by lawmakers, but it is now beginning to gain some more supporters. However, there is still strong opposition from some groups, and others are also worried about how the state lottery ban would be enforced.

Proposals seek to ban lottery ticket venders from selling the lottery tickets if they "knowingly" are selling a lottery ticket to someone on welfare. So the lawmakers are hoping that cashiers and sellers would be able to recognize locals who use food stamps, and therefore should refuse to sell lottery tickets to those people.

The lottery ban controversy claims that venders feel that they should not be expected to monitor a person's financial situation, and many have stated that they do not feel comfortable in doing so. Do agree, or do you feel such a ban should be put in place?



While I do agree this law has good intentions (i.e. preventing lottery abuse,this proposal is just outright STUPID.You are going to raise grocery taxes on people making it harder for them to pay for groceries and then try to ban people from buying a lottery ticket which costs one measley dollar.

Ok......

Not a single reply

Why? It could help out a person's life.

as a citizen of NC, I'm here at court to talk about this issue

*reads article*
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My state.

!!!!! I am not seeing the logic behind this. Lottery tickets barely makes a dent in your wallet unless you're buying a bunch of them.

It promotes judgement.
People don't abuse the lottery system like they do with Alcohol or cigarettes.If that were the case,why are we coming for lottery tickets FIRST????? Lottery tickets only range from 50 cents (for the big games) to $5 for scratchoffs. The highest I would go in price for a single lottery ticket is $10.Whereas some beer can run up to $4 or $5 a can.

More class warfare

Since welfare food stamps aren't cash (normally) how the hell would they use their food stamps to buy a damn lottery ticket. Sounds like class and racial discrimination to me...

And then let's not forget about cigarettes (the state's former pride and glory)

Cases/Boxes of cigarettes can cost one $10- $20 dollars depending on where one goes.Certainly that could be used to help fund grocery bills (or the six percent tax increase that's coming with them).Why not try to ban welfare recipients from obtaining them???

It does make some sense and I see it's trying to cur b problem gambling,but if we're going to ban something,ban the more addicting/harmful/expensive things.

And also lotto tix don't harm people's physical health either.

I agree with the idea behind the proposal. Buying lottery tickets is not a right but rather a privilege. If they can pay for a lottery ticket but ask for help to pay for their groceries, there is an issue for me. I know people will disagree with me, but sorry, I won't change my mind. It's not like anything can be done anyway. It's just that in theory it's wrong to me.

Buying a lottery ticket that costs next to nothing is not gonna hurt paying your bills unless you have a gambling problem. Which even then you would have to do more than buy lottery tickets to be in a bad financial situation.

You can't buy anything other than food with food stamps so i don't see the issue. Yes there are people who abuse the system but this is the wrong way to go about it.

And if someone who is on food stamps have the chance to get rich or at least comfortable should be given the chance. Cause equal treatment is a right.

Good they shouldn't be buying lottery tickets anyways

Also,another thing with this class warfare.

If they were really concerned about low income people paying for their groceries as opposed to lottery' tickets, why not alleviate some of these Food deserts in low income areas and get cheap,nutritious options as well?

Many college students are also in the SNAP program, we're going to say they can't buy lottery tickets either???

But wait, don't all lottery proceeds go to the state anyways? If someone on welfare buys a lottery ticket, they are just giving the money back to the state, so why should they care