restrictions

Dec. 31 (UPI) — SNAP users in some states face additional limits on what they can buy that take effect Thursday.

At least 18 states are banning sodas, sugary drinks and candy from being purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds.

The new rules in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia. The other 13 states have later start dates.

“President Trump has made it clear: we are restoring SNAP to its true purpose — nutrition. Under the [Make America Healthy Again] initiative, we are taking bold, historic steps to reverse the chronic diseases epidemic that has taken root in this country for far too long,” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement.

“America’s governors are answering that call with courage and innovation, offering solutions that honor the generosity of the taxpayer while helping families live longer, healthier lives.

“With these new waivers, we are empowering states to lead, protecting our children from the dangers of highly processed foods and moving one step closer to the President’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.”

About 42 million people, about 12% of the U.S. population, used SNAP benefits each month during the 2024 federal fiscal year, the Department of Agriculture said.

States had to request waivers from the federal government for rules governing how people can spend their SNAP benefits.

Anti-hunger advocacy group Food Research and Action said the new laws in some states are too vague and put the burden to decide what’s allowed on retailers and shoppers.

“The items list does not provide enough specific information to prepare a SNAP participant to go to the grocery store,” the group said in a Monday blog post about Iowa’s new law.

The post pointed out that while a Snickers bar is not eligible, a Twix bar is because it contains flour. It said candy-coated fruit or nuts, including barbecue-coated peanuts and yogurt-coated raisins are not allowed, but cakes and cookies are.

“These restrictions will do nothing to make healthy food more affordable,” said blog authors Luke Elzinga and Gina Plata-Nino of Food Research and Action. “Instead, it will increase stigma for SNAP participants, create confusion at checkout counters [and] raise grocery prices for us all.”

SNAP users have also expressed concern.

“I agree, I would love to eat vegetables, I would love to eat hamburger, but I can’t store it,” said Marc Craig, a homeless Iowa man, USA Today reported. “And if you’re in a shelter, you can’t bring in outside food.

Soft drinks and “sweetened beverages” will be banned in all 18 of the states, though some call them “unhealthy drinks” or add energy drinks to the list.

Candy is banned in Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Iowa specifically bans any taxable food item, which eliminates vitamins and minerals. Iowans also can’t purchase drinks with 50% or less fruit or vegetable juice.

Florida and Missouri also ban “prepared desserts.”

Gaza’s Ministry of Health has appealed for increased drug, medical consumables and laboratory supplies, warning of severe shortages after more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza and a crippling blockade.

The ministry said on Sunday that the shortages were making it difficult to provide diagnostic and treatment services.

Doctors in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory have long warned that they are struggling to save lives because Israel is not allowing the most essential medical supplies in. During Israel’s genocidal war, which has spanned more than two years, nearly all of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare facilities were attacked, with at least 125 health facilities damaged, including 34 hospitals.

“The number of items completely out of stock on the essential medicines list has reached 321, representing a 52 percent shortage,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.

“The number of items completely out of stock on the medical consumables list has reached 710, representing a 71 percent shortage. The shortage rate for laboratory tests and blood bank supplies has reached 59 percent,” it added.

The most critical drug shortages are in emergency services, particularly life-saving intravenous solutions, intravenous antibiotics, and pain killers, the ministry said.

The shortage in emergency and intensive care services is potentially depriving 200,000 patients of emergency care, 100,000 patients of surgical services, and 700 patients of intensive care, it added.

The ministry cited additional shortages in kidney, oncology, open-heart surgery, and orthopedic supplies, among others.

“Given these alarming figures, and with the continued reduction by the occupation of the number of medical trucks entering Gaza to less than 30 percent of the monthly need, and with the insufficient quantity of supplies available, the Ministry of Health urgently appeals to all relevant parties to fully assume their responsibilities in implementing emergency interventions,” it said.

Despite a United States-backed ceasefire that took effect on October 10, Israel continues to violate its agreement with Hamas by failing to allow in the agreed quantities of medical aid trucks, deepening what the Gaza Health Ministry has described as a critical and ongoing health emergency.

Amid the shortages of medical supplies, 1,500 children are awaiting the opening of border crossings to travel and receive treatment outside Gaza.

Zaher Al Waheidi, the head of the Information Unit at Gaza’s Health Ministry, said on Sunday that 1,200 patients, including 155 children, have died after being unable to be evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment.

Palestinian detainees released

Meanwhile, six Palestinian detainees released from Israeli detention arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah on Sunday for medical treatment, according to medical sources. A correspondent for the Anadolu news agency said the men were transferred via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Rights groups say Israel had detained the men without clear legal procedures. The ICRC says it has not been granted access to Palestinians held in Israeli detention since October 2023, warning that international humanitarian law requires humane treatment and family contact.

The releases are part of sporadic Israeli actions involving Gaza detainees held for months. Many former prisoners report malnutrition and injuries from abuse.

About 1,700 detainees were released in October under the ceasefire deal, but more than 10,000 Palestinians – including women and children – remain in Israeli prisons, where rights groups report widespread abuse, starvation and medical neglect.

Elsewhere in the enclave, Gaza’s Civil Defence said it rescued five people, including a child and two women, who were trapped under the collapsed roof of their house in Sheikh Radwan, northwest of Gaza City.

The roof collapse killed four people, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security.

At least 18 people have been killed due to the collapse of 46 buildings in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect, according to the ministry.

More than 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed, and more than 171,000 others have been wounded in attacks in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023.

The executive order calls on the US attorney general to expedite federal reclassification, creating fewer barriers for studies.

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to federally reclassify marijuana as less dangerous.

The move on Thursday requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to expedite the process under the Drug Enforcement Administration for reclassifying marijuana.

In the US, drugs and other chemical substances are divided into a five-tier classification system, with Schedule I representing the most restricted tier and Schedule V the least.

Marijuana was previously in the Schedule I category, where it was classed alongside potent narcotics like heroin and LSD. With Thursday’s order, it would be fast-tracked down to Schedule III, in a class with ketamine and anabolic steroids.

Trump said the change “is not the legalisation” of marijuana, and he added that it “in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug”.

The change, however, will make it easier to conduct research on marijuana, as studies on Schedule III drugs require far less approval than for Schedule I substances.

Speaking earlier in the week, Trump told reporters the change was popular “because it leads to tremendous amounts of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify, so we are looking at that very strongly”.

The change is in line with several states that have moved to legalise marijuana for both medical and recreational use. That has created a patchwork of state-level regulations at odds with federal law, wherein marijuana remains illegal.

Former US President Joe Biden had taken several steps to lessen federal penalties related to marijuana, including a mass pardon for those handed harsh sentences for simple possession.

Such convictions had disproportionately affected minority communities and fuelled mass incarceration in the US.

The Biden administration had also begun the process of reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III, but the effort was not completed before the Democratic president left office in January.

Trump has faced some pushback from within his party about the classification shift. Earlier this year, 20 Republican senators signed a letter urging the president to keep the more severe restrictions.

The group argued that marijuana continues to be dangerous and that a shift would “undermine your strong efforts to Make America Great Again”, a reference to Trump’s campaign slogan.

Meanwhile, public support for legalising marijuana for recreational use has nearly doubled in recent years, increasing from 36 percent support in 2005 to 68 percent in 2024, according to Gallup polls.