Another State Tests Welfare Recipients for Drug Use, And...

[VulcanNervPinch]

http://www.aol.com/article/2016/02/...elfare-recipients-and-the-results-w/21314760/

North Carolina has joined a growing list of states that have spent huge sums of money to drug test welfare recipients in order to make sure they weren't wasting government money on drugs

0.3 percent of the approximate 7,600 applicants and recipients screened tested positive for drug use

I'm very definitely not a fan of drugs.
But I'm also not a fan of flushing money down the toilet in a futile attempt to push a narrative that is questionable at best and overwhelmingly false, at worst.

 

[oldshadow]

The better question is how much of drop in enrollment as that would be a better indicator if it was worth anything.

 

[VulcanNervPinch]

The better question is how much of drop in enrollment as that would be a better indicator if it was worth anything.

A fair point, although I'm not finding much on that.

 

[Gutter Chris]

I got a theory that mayors and governors and other political types own the drug testing contracts and the real reason they cook up these schemes is to pay themselves to do the testing.

 

[The Diplomat]

Other states have seen similar results. A mere 0.17 percent of the 39,121 applicants tested in Tennessee were found to be using illicit drugs, according to the Tennessean. In Arizona, more than 87,000 welfare recipients went through drug testing and only one person tested positive, USA Today reports.

Interesting.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

having stricter work requirements will fix the people mooching.

Those numbers have to be false too, any subset of the population would test higher than that, especially poor people ffs. Cmon son

 

[Konquest]

I got a theory that mayors and governors and other political types own the drug testing contracts and the real reason they cook up these schemes is to pay themselves to do the testing.

Ding Ding Ding we have a winner!

http://www.tampabay.com/news/busine...d-conflict-of-interest-whats-the-deal/1161158


The other reason is to push a narrative that people on gov. assistance are unworthy of it, which makes it easier to cut without as much popular backlash.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

a bigger issue is probably cigarettes/alcohol b/c they're legal...

if you're on government assistance, yet have the cash to buy daily smokes, welll.....you're clearly cheating the system by default

 

[Gutter Chris]

The other reason is to push a narrative that people on gov. assistance are unworthy of it, which makes it easier to cut without as much popular backlash.

Yup. Its a small hunk of the budget as far as waste goes but easily one of the easiest things to get folks riled up about. Everyone hates there job and is working to hard for to little money. Wanna get them dudes pissed tell em some bum is sittin on his ass drinkin and smoking dope all day while you pay for it and watch the magic. Never mind if its true or not all that matters is the feels.

 

[Quipling]

As someone familiar with the issue:

A relatively small % of welfare recipients were tested. Their case workers, in an attempt to be economical, targeted the most likely drug users. Among other factors, I think this included anyone iwth a prior drug offense. While only a handful of people failed, about twice that many declined to participate in the test.

So the amount may be as high as 1 or even 2%.

 

[UpaLoompa]

So, given the general argument for this testing, should all government employees and those contracted by the government also be tested?

 

[Anung Un Rama]

I get the support for such an effort... on its face.

but hasn't this already been proven to be a waste of money?
And doesn't it, inherently, contribute to the stigma of abandonment of the addicted?

Legalize drugs and use the taxes to:
1. support addiction clinics
2. support schools/education
3. create jobs programs for welfare recipients that are capable of working.

 

[IGIT]

http://www.aol.com/article/2016/02/...elfare-recipients-and-the-results-w/21314760/


I'm very definitely not a fan of drugs.
But I'm also not a fan of flushing money down the toilet in a futile attempt to push a narrative that is questionable at best and overwhelmingly false, at worst.

hi VulcanNervPinch,

hmmmf.

i would have loved, looooooooved, if the DEA descended on Wall Street on the eve of the bailouts and tested everyone in lower Manhattan for cocaine and oxycontin abuse as means test for whether or not they'd receive taxpayer funded largesse.

if they'd raided the office desk of Bear Stearns CEO, James Cayne, they'd probably have found an ounce of kind bud.

- IGIT

 

[Bald1]

hi VulcanNervPinch,

hmmmf.

i would have loved, looooooooved, if the DEA descended on Wall Street on the eve of the bailouts and tested everyone in lower Manhattan for cocaine and oxycontin abuse as means test for whether or not they'd receive taxpayer funded largesse.

if they'd raided the office desk of Bear Stearns CEO, James Cayne, they'd probably have found an ounce of kind bud.

- IGIT

I would like to like this more. I think it's spot on.

 

[drstrangelov]

The better question is how much of drop in enrollment as that would be a better indicator if it was worth anything.

Drop in enrollment is not the measure for success in this effort, it's drop in number of failed tests controlled for total number of applicants. You want fewer at risk people using drugs, not fewer people who need assistance getting it.

 

[ShoelessRye]

I bet politicians, lawyers, judges and cops would fail at a higher rate.

 

[Renard]

People lose their shit over welfare yet corporate handouts, subsidizes and bailouts is more serious by orders of magnitude. Let's get angry proportionally to the problem.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

The better question is how much of drop in enrollment as that would be a better indicator if it was worth anything.

I read something recently that showed when people were asked to do some work or take some classes is when enrollment really dropped. Like 80% or so.

It wasn't this exact article but I believe this is the story I read.

http://qpolitical.com/maine-just-pu...very-american-needsto-see-what-happened-next/

At the end of 2014 the enrollment count for SNAP was approximately 12,000 individuals. Now that individuals have to complete either 20 hours of part-time work a week, volunteer for at least 24 hours per month, or get involved in a vocational program, the amount of SNAP recipients has dramatically dropped from 12,000 to approximately 2,500 by the end of March

 

[44nutman]

I got a theory that mayors and governors and other political types own the drug testing contracts and the real reason they cook up these schemes is to pay themselves to do the testing.

That is what happened in Florida. The testing facilities were owned by the governor's wife. The used to be his, but he turned them over to her, when he became governor, to avoid a conflict of interest.
Rick Scott stole billions from medicare but somehow got elected governor.

 

[GSP in 2006]

I read something recently that showed when people were asked to do some work or take some classes is when enrollment really dropped. Like 80% or so.

It wasn't this exact article but I believe this is the story I read.

http://qpolitical.com/maine-just-pu...very-american-needsto-see-what-happened-next/

I tried reading that story, but stopped. Thats a really shitty hacks blog. Anything from a site worth a shit?