The state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would add medical marijuana to the list of items prohibited from purchase when using Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

EBT cards work much like bank debit cards and are used by people who receive federal food aid and state cash benefits to pay for items related to childcare. The Legislature has already banned EBT card purchases for tattoos, body piercings, alcohol and tobacco.

“Something that is not appropriate for children shouldn’t be purchased with money intended for children,” said Sen. Mike Carrell (R-Lakewood), the sponsor of Senate Bill 5279.

Sen. Jeannie Darnielle (D-Tacoma) introduced an amendment that would have excluded qualifying medical marijuana patients from the proposed restrictions. The amendment failed to gain enough support on the floor.

“I find it so difficult to believe that we would allow someone to buy an aspirin, to buy lotion, to buy things that make living pain-free, and can not recognize that medical usage of marijuana are absolutely appropriate to people of all economic status,”  Darnielle said.

The measure passed by a 39-10 vote. It now heads to the House for consideration.

Legislation would prohibit the purchase of medical marijuana using funds from state-issued EBT cards.

Medical marijuana would be added to the list of items prohibited from purchase when using Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards under proposed legislation heard today in a Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee hearing.

The EBT cards, which work much like bank debit cards, are used by people who receive federal food aid and state cash benefits to pay for items related to childcare.

Sen. Mike Carrell (R-Lakewood) said the cash given to recipients is strictly intended for the needs of a child.

“I’m not against medical marijuana. It’s just simply that it’s an inappropriate use of money that supposed to benefit children. Somebody taking medical marijuana doesn’t benefit the child,” he said.

In 2011, the legislature banned EBT card purchases for tattoos, body piercings, alcohol and tobacco. The bill also banned bars, casinos and strip clubs from accepting EBT cards after an investigation revealed that a significant number of the state-issued cards were being used at casinos.

Under the new legislation, businesses licensed to sell liquor would be required to reconfigure their ATM machines to no longer accept EBT cards.

Lonnie Johns-Brown with the Welfare Advocates Group told the committee that disabling the ATM machines at stores selling liquor may limit access for recipients following the rules.

“Our biggest concern is to make sure people can actually access cash,” she said.

Members of the committee agreed EBT card regulations remain difficult to enforce.

“It is simply sending a message that this is money for children, not for adults,” Carrell said.

Superintendent of Schools Randy Dorn

Marijuana has been legal for less than a week in Washington state, but already there’s “anecdotal reports” of more kids using it than before, according to a press release today from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn.

Public schools must abide by federal rules to get funding. Dorn issued a warning saying that the new legalization law has “no effect on federal law,” and any student caught on a school campus with marijuana will be disciplined according to “local district policy.”

Read the full press release here.

The state Liquor Control Board has a year to come up with the rules for the state’s new marijuana legalization law — but that doesn’t mean they should take that long to do it, said Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle.

In less than a week, it’ll be legal for adults in the state to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. Prosecutors in several Washington counties have dropped pending marijuana possession cases in advance of Dec. 6, the day the law goes into effect.

“During that year where it’s legal on the street, my fear is that gangs — who are nobody’s friend — are going to take over the market and entrench themselves the longer that period of time goes,” Kline said at a Senate labor committee today during a briefing on the issue.

Speaking to representatives from the liquor board, Kline said: “I know you’ve got a year and you want to do this deliberately, but the request on my part is deliberate speed.”

Alison Holcomb, who headed the I-502 campaign to legalize marijuana, disagreed. She said the year gives the liquor control board time to be “thoughtful” about creating a legal framework for the new law.

“There’s been an unregulated market for marijuana for over 100 years in this country,” Holcomb told the committee. “Patterns of enforcing our criminal laws have had absolutely no effect.”

Members of the committee also got an update on I-1183, the initiative passed by voters that got the state out of the liquor business.

Grocery stores have been allowed to sell liquor since June. Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, said she’s worried about an increase in thefts at the stores — including one Safeway that was robbed of $90,000 worth of high-end liquor.

“I was concerned about young people, but it turns out this is a professional organized crime process underway,” Keiser said. “It’s not young people. It is professional thieves getting high-end liquor off the shelves.”

Keiser said local police departments have asked for additional funding to investigate the liquor crimes. “This is a cost to the public tax dollar,” said Keiser, who said additional police work should be considered when looking at the “big view” of the cost of liquor privatization.

Watch the full meeting below: