Georgia Drug Testing Policy Not Catching Jobless Druggies So Far
In December, Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican, introduced a bill to require drug screening and testing for all unemployment benefit claimants, citing complaints from businesses in his district. A watered-down version of his proposal made it into a broader bill that became law in February; states will be allowed to test some claimants as soon as the U.S. Labor Department offers guidance.
Businesses in Kingston’s district and elsewhere had told HuffPost about waves of would-be employees failing drug tests, but were unable to provide anything yet beyond anecdotes. National drug use surveys indicate the unemployed are twice as likely as people with jobs to use drugs, but the past two years of state and federal proposals to test people receiving unemployment insurance have yielded no data to suggest that people receiving benefits do drugs more than anyone else.
I love it, people are so fucking concerned that someone on unemployment is going to use that money to buy drugs so the state uses taxpayer money to drug test people and ends up turning up nothing, effectively wasting state money on bullshit.
It’s not wasted: it’s going DIRECTLY INTO THE POCKETS OF THE PERSON WHO PROPOSED THE WHACKJOB IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE. Unfortunately I can’t find the source, but I remember when this idea first came up, it was pointed out that the legislator who was pushing the scheme was married to a woman who owned a drug testing company. When questioning Republican stupidity, always, always look for the money, because it usually explains everything.
Makes sense, being that there was a similar motive in Florida. If you ever come across a source on it, let me know!
Georgia Drug Testing Policy Not Catching Jobless Druggies So Far
In December, Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican, introduced a bill to require drug screening and testing for all unemployment benefit claimants, citing complaints from businesses in his district. A watered-down version of his proposal made it into a broader bill that became law in February; states will be allowed to test some claimants as soon as the U.S. Labor Department offers guidance.
Businesses in Kingston’s district and elsewhere had told HuffPost about waves of would-be employees failing drug tests, but were unable to provide anything yet beyond anecdotes. National drug use surveys indicate the unemployed are twice as likely as people with jobs to use drugs, but the past two years of state and federal proposals to test people receiving unemployment insurance have yielded no data to suggest that people receiving benefits do drugs more than anyone else.
I love it, people are so fucking concerned that someone on unemployment is going to use that money to buy drugs so the state uses taxpayer money to drug test people and ends up turning up nothing, effectively wasting state money on bullshit.
Just as We Suspected: Florida Saved Nothing by Drug Testing Welfare Applicants
Last year Florida became the first state to pass and fully implement a bill mandating suspicionless drug testing of all applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The law mandated that all applicants pay for the cost of the drug test themselves, and that they be reimbursed if their test came back positive. The law was in effect for a mere four months before the ACLU of Florida filed a lawsuit and a federal court blocked the law, saying it was unconstitutional.
Today the New York Times released the most comprehensive data yet on how the law fared during the short period of time it was in effect. We already knew that the law was a failure; what we didn’t know was just how much of a failure it was.
read more at ACLU Blog of Rights
Drug Testing the Poor: Bad Policy, Even Worse Law
Drug Testing the Poor: Bad Policy, Even Worse Law | TIME
Drug testing proponents like to argue that there are large numbers of drug users going on welfare to get money to support their habits. The claim feeds into long-standing stereotypes about the kind of people who go on welfare, but it does not appear to have much basis in fact.
Several studies, including a 1996 report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, have found that there is no significant difference in the rate of illegal-drug use by welfare applicants and other people. Another study found that 70% of illegal-drug users between the age of 18 and 49 are employed full time.
[…] it is hard to escape the suspicion that what is really behind the drive to drug-test benefits applicants is a desire to stigmatize the needy. The fact is, there are all sorts of people who benefit from government programs. Businessmen get state contracts, farmers receive crop subsidies and retired state workers receive pensions. The pro-drug-testing movement, however, is focusing exclusively on welfare recipients — an easy target. +
(Source: fuckyeahdrugpolicy, via bluntlyblue)
