FL Governor Scott wants drug test for welfare recipients

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/0 ... 71678.html

I support it.

Opponents of the proposal say it further advances the stereotype that welfare recipients are all drug users. If the stereotype is a myth, then why not conduct the tests to prove that only a very small percentage of welfare users do drugs?

Because it is an invasion of privacy and sets a bad precedent that the government can compel people to submit to drug tests.

And come on, the real purpose of these tests is transparent enough. Scott just wants any excuse to cut down on welfare. It's an ideological thing. If he cared about poor people using drugs, he wouldn't waste money on repeated drug screenings of a targeted class and instead spend that money on treatment and rehabilitation programs for addicts.

From what I remember, he owns or has a stake in a company that produces drug testing kits.

Substance abuse issues make people more vulnerable. They should be given MORE assistance and services, to treat their substance abuse and mental health issues.

This is stupid and evil.

There is a difference between spending money for treating someone's drug addictions and spending money to give a drug addict their quick fix. No?

It's neoliberal ideology that says that wealth and or poverty is a function of character and therefore the poor are people with bad character who need tight supervision and control, with a strong emphasis on punishment and shaming, and wealthy people are wealthy because of good character and thus require no supervision or control, that any such is a supreme insult and that enforcing the law against them is a crime against nature.

Have you ever had to seek out government assistance or services? I have, and let me assure you: The process resembles nothing like a "quick fix" for anything.

You make it sound like they just let heroin addicts bring in trash bags for guys with pitchforks to fill with heaps of cash...

Hey this is the same platform David Duke ran on.
"great minds" huh!?!
but noo the racists gots nuthin to do with the republicans
oh yeah double and D ran as a Republican.

You're already required to provide private information, such as bank balances, to get welfare.


The welfare in question is targeted at helping children. If the adult who receives the money fails the drug test, he can designate someone else to receive the money on the children's behalf. It isn't a question of preventing the intended beneficiaries - the children - from receiving the benefits.

I'm torn on this. I have my own feelings on drugs and certainly sensitive to the government overstepping their boundaries but when you're on the dole, the government and thus the taxpayer has the right to put certain restrictions on you if you want their assistance. Reminds of the idea out of New York to not allow "junk food" to be bought with food stamps, which is something I'd actually support. I imagine this will cost quite a bit of money to pay for these drug tests, maybe even more than the amount they may save. There are always unintended consequences as well, if you test for certain drugs that would probably just make some of these people just turn to drugs that don't show up on a test. I think on this specific proposal, I'll go against.

I'm wary that this is an excuse to stigmatize and inconvenience the majority of people on welfare who do NOT use illegal drugs. There are parallels to the Arizona anti-immigration law which does the same thing to legal immigrants. They want to make sure certain "undesirables" of society are made to feel that they are guilty until proven innocent.

But that is something that is directly relevant to preventing welfare fraud. This is not.


Yes, it is. The goal of Scott and his ilk is to dismantle any form of social welfare program. They do not want anyone receiving these benefits, regardless of whether they need them.

Same guy who opposed regulating the Florida pill mills. Florida is the epicenter of perscription drug abuse through dodgy clinics and Scott felt that regulating them was an invasion of privacy and a waste of money. He just reversed course and signed the bill.

But in principle, I guess if the working, middle and upper class are stoned, he's good.

The precedent was set long ago. Medical tests can be required for social security and some other social services.


People that just want to use welfare to help them get high and give them a place to do it are not ready to commit to getting clean. Not giving them welfare will make extremely few want to get clean. Most of them will go find other ways of obtaining drugs and find another place to sleep. Most of them will eventually end up in jail at some point, it may be more expensive than giving them welfare but subsidizing drug use creates crime.


In substance abuse counseling and support groups, that is known as enabling.


He was a democrat for the first 20 years of his life that he was eligible to vote. He may have run as a republican but he lost every primary bid except a special election to the Louisiana House of Representatives, and he only won that because the democratic ticket was split 3 ways. He only served 1 term.


If the parents are lucky, they will get ONE chance to clean up before the kids are taken away. If the parents have a past history then the county will probably just take the kids away and they will get their social services through someone else.

Treating somebody for mental health and substance abuse issues is... enabling? Can't say I'm surprised to hear you say that sort of thing. But that's beyond insane.

Stick them through rehab and get them checked out by a psychiatrist while they are there if they want, but rehab would pressure them to get a job so they wouldn't need to be welfare dependent. Then, as long as they can pass a drug test, then they can get services. Not too many of them will want to take that offer though.

But simply giving them and occasionally a freeloader junkie "friend" a place to crash, services that provide money or can be converted to money for drugs, or simply free up more money from other sources for drugs, is enabling.

I, for one, can't wait to see Florida streets saturated with homeless drug-addicted panhandlers. Rethuglican stupidity and cruelty knows no bounds.