Man Turns Water Into Cigarettes

Elsworth American ^ | Wednesday, September 29, 2010 | Jennifer Osborn

[Inappropriate Laughter]

ELLSWORTH — A concerned citizen called police Sept. 23 after seeing a man dumping new bottles of water on the ground near a local store with a goal of returning the bottles to get money to buy cigarettes.

Officer Rick Roberts spoke with the man, who advised he had bought the water with his food stamps and was dumping the water out so he could recycle the bottles to get cigarette money.

[Inappropriate Laughter]

As heard on Howie Carr's (WRKO) weekly Friday Police Blotter Fax segment.

[Dallas59]

A man gotta do what he’s gotta do.

[library user]

He should be 0’s next Treasury Secretary.

[library user]

I gotz me some mad entrepernerrial skillz, man!

[1rudeboy]

Actually, a rather good idea. This man would have promise if he cleaned up and bought a suit.

[Dan Nunn]

That’ll be next with his deposit refund.

[Oatka]

You’s think he could find a stamp buyer at 50c on the dollar and be able to buy a whole carton.

[gura]

That’s exactly how government “stimulus” programs work.

[Cacique]

Well, at least he didn’t want to use the money to buy crack..

[smokingfrog]

They should just let people buy cigarettes with their food stamps. They’ll get most of the money back in taxes anyway.

[RightGeek]

In most big cities the store owner would have bought the food stamps at a discount for cash.

[upchuck]

In most big cities the store owner would have bought the food stamps at a discount for cash.

Not just big cities. That goes on everywhere.

[Dr. Sivana]

You’s think he could find a stamp buyer at 50c on the dollar and be able to buy a whole carton.

True, but what he did was legal, the resale of the stamps is illegal.

[Right Wing Assault]

Yeah, obama would be proud of him.

Maybe he has to give barkey a few packs.

[mainsail that]

“You’s think he could find a stamp buyer at 50c on the dollar and be able to buy a whole carton.”

In most cases that person is the grocery store owner. That’s very widespread

[Pearls Before Swine]

They should just let people buy cigarettes with their food stamps. They’ll get most of the money back in taxes anyway.

With the taxes tobacco carries, I think of cigarettes as a value free transaction. It's mostly tax, not product. So, as you point out, the taxes will quickly recycle the food stamp expenditure.

Moreover, as the good Dr. Berwick would point out, this, uh, client, isn't consuming nourishment and is instead poisoning himself, so the present value of his lifetime medical expenses is reduced. It's a win-win. /s.

[Pontiac]

“You’s think he could find a stamp buyer at 50c on the dollar and be able to buy a whole carton.”

They don’t get stamps anymore.

They get debit cards specifically to prevent the sale of benefits at a discounted prices.

What you occasionally see is a debit card holder bartering food (steaks) for cash outside a store. You buy me a carton of cigs I’ll buy you t-bones worth twice as much.

[Oatka]

They don’t get stamps anymore.

Damn, I forgot the new electronic approach. As you pointed out, there's always a go-around. If only they'd work as hard to find a job - admittedly tougher nowadays.

[jmacusa]

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Food Stamps are just another form of currency even at 50 cents on the dollar.

[M-cubed]

lol...Cue up Hank Jr. “A Country Boy can Survive” and chalk up one for a “downeaster”...

Lots of them thrive on that image of themselves...and proud of it