However, I do want to clarify a few things. I am a WIC mom (who is married, and does not drink/take drugs/smoke, btw.) I wouldn't know who to sell a can of formula to if my life depended on it, and I've never done drugs ever.
WIC is VERY different from SNAP/aka food stamps. To get WIC, you have to have children under the age of 5. Older children/teens get nothing from WIC. Neither do spouses. We have to go into an office, be weighed and measured every few weeks. An average monthly benefit is something like this:
$16.00 worth of fresh or frozen fruit/vegetables, 7 gallons of milk, 2 pounds of cheese, 2-3 boxes of unsweetened cereal, 3 cans of juice concentrate or bottles or 3 bottles of juice, 2 dozen eggs, 2 loaves of whole grain bread, formula cans for babies under 1 yr., 1 pound of brown rice, canned or dry beans. If baby is solely breast-fed, you get a little more of the above items, and either canned tuna or sardines. Nothing else. Thankfully, I know how to cook, so working with staples is fine with me.
SNAP recipients(from what I have heard) have much greater leeway as to what they are able to buy. More convenience foods, meats, etc.
I have a 4 yr. old and an infant, so only we 3 are eligible for WIC. Our benefits will drop soon, because my 4 yr. old will be turning 5, and I will be eligible only until the baby is a year old. WIC also has rent-free hospital grade breast pumps, which has been wonderful, saving us $75.00 a month for a hospital rental. The breast pump issue was actually why we applied for WIC.
My husband is currently unemployed, so it has really been a godsend for us, as unemployment doesn't go all that far. We view this as purely temporary, and just a help, not a lifestyle. We actually applied for SNAP, but because we have a 2nd car worth (slightly) more than $4,000, we were immediately ruled out from eligibility. Yes, lots of folks lie about their 2nd car, but we won't do that.
For what it's worth, I would be happy to undergo random drug or hair testing for benefits, and heck, I'll even breast-feed the baby in front of the WIC ladies, just to prove I'm breast feeding my little one. My husband & I are not young, so we have a different mind-set than some of the young kids on the program. I'm pretty embarrassed to even use my card during the day or on weekends. I wait until after my baby's 1 AM feeding, and then once she's asleep, I go to Wal-Mart and use the WIC card. I don't mind being a bit embarrassed, because once you stop feeling embarrassed, you're taking it for granted.
Fifteen years ago I had a neighbor on WIC. Only had 1 kid and received enough to buy about 6 gallons of milk a week along with formula and other dairy and fruit.
She got so much she would sell it to her friends.