Colorado governor signs pot-shop welfare ban into law

Measures to ban the use of welfare cards at pot shops have been signed into law in Colorado.

Gov. John Hickenlooper signed two bills Friday to add marijuana businesses and strip clubs to the list of Colorado businesses where electronic benefits cards – called EBTs – can’t be used to withdraw cash.

Liquor stores, casinos and gun shops already have such limitations. Marijuana industry groups and the state agency that administers welfare supported the welfare limit.

Previous attempts to forbid use of the cards in pot shops failed because of concerns that the pot-shop ATMs may be closer than banks in some neighborhoods. But opposition evaporated this year after numerous reports of the benefits cards being used in marijuana dispensaries.