Food Stamps are a second currency in America. They’re traded for half their face value in the ‘hood for drugs.
When I started as a street cop in public housing in the mid-90’s it was when there was still “script” or physical food stamps. We arrested corner boys often and it was usually a 50/50 mix of cash and script along with whatever crack they had left in their pants or in the bushes next to them.
The “convenience marts” in the area were all flush with stamps and it was common knowledge that they competed with one another to buy the stamps for cash at 50 cents on the dollar or better.
The transfer of the program to EBT cards changed things for the corner boys quite a bit, but the fraud at the marts was still widespread with a person able to purchase a small item and ring up 50 dollars and leave with 25 dollars cash in their pocket. However, from talking with friends who still work these areas it has gotten better since the inception of the program. There is still a lot of fraud, but it was wide open back when they had actual script.