Multiple New York City store clerks have allegedly been allowing customers to use Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to buy a drug, Kratom, that is not covered under the government’s food stamp program, according to O’Keefe Media Group (OMG).
The outlet’s James O’Keefe investigated the issue and recorded store workers swiping what were reportedly EBT cards for customers who bought Kratom, OMG reported Wednesday.
OMG said Kratom is “commonly sold as powder, capsules, or liquid extracts. Federal regulations strictly limit SNAP and EBT benefits to eligible food items. Under 7 CFR 278 and 7 U.S. Code 2012, retailers are prohibited from accepting these benefits for non-food products, including drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Violations can result in store disqualification and fines.” (Emphasis original.)
Kratom, which is an herbal extract, is considered an energy booster and pain reliever that some people use to help with opioid withdrawal, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website. However, those who use it are putting themselves at further risk of addiction.
When OMG’s undercover journalists approached the counters inside several stores, clerks allegedly tried to process the Kratom they wanted to buy with EBT cards by choosing “EBT Food” or “EBT cash.”
“A call to the number on the back of a NY EBT card produced further clarification. A representative stated that EBT cards cannot be used to purchase any drugs. However, the same representative acknowledged that once cash is withdrawn from an EBT account via an ATM or terminal, the funds can be spent without restriction,” the OMG article read.
When O’Keefe confronted one of the clerks about the issue, she asked him for proof and he produced a receipt that said, “Benefit: Food.”
“When confronted, store employees denied processing the transactions. One location closed its door on our undercover journalists. Our investigation notes that even the attempt to accept SNAP benefits for ineligible items constitutes a crime under New York Penal Law,” the OMG report stated.
Indeed, EBT fraud has been revealed as a widespread issue across the nation.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins reviewed data from 29 states administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and found EBT cards that were carrying balances of over $10,000, some that had not been used in years, and others issued to people who did not exist, Breitbart News reported in November.
In May, Rollins said SNAP was full of “fraud and abuse and corruption” and in need of major reform:
Again, let me repeat that $400 million of our taxpayer money is spent every day across our nutrition programs, just at USDA. So when the president ran and spoke to the American people about rightsizing government and realigning and making sure that every taxpayer dollar is spent to its best and highest and most effective use, that I’m not sure there is a program — there are others equally equal to it — but I’m not sure that there is a program that perhaps needs more reform than the SNAP program, which is the food stamp program.
Breitbart News also reported in May that Vice President JD Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud had been working on several actions to remedy the systemic problems in SNAP.
When it came to the dangers of Kratom, police in Florida said recently that two adults were arrested after the death of a toddler was attributed to her consumption of Kratom pills.
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