Arkansas legislature proposes drug testing for welfare
NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas’ News Source
Two legislative committees authorized on Monday a study prior to the 2009 legislative session of a proposal to require recipients of certain public assistance to undergo random drug testing in order to continue receiving assistance.Those who failed a drug test would have to successfully complete a one-year drug treatment program approved by the state Department of Human Services and remain drug-free during the program.
The proposal was submitted by Rep. Frank Glidewell and Sen. Denny Altes, both Republicans from Fort Smith.
The public assistance “shall be discontinued” if the person fails to complete the drug treatment program or fails to remain drug-free in the program.
The House and Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committees OK’d the study with no discussion, debate or questions.
Glidewell said he believes that alcohol and / or drug problems are “pretty widespread” among recipients of public assistance. It may not be their largest problem, but “it’s a problem” that is a sickness like tuberculosis and cancer, he said.
“If we can help people out by sending [them ] to rehab, I think we are making better citizens out of them,” he said.
Beware when your government wants to “make” something out of you.
You know, as a I write these news stories about state legislation, I often wonder if they have ever thought through the natural consequences of their legislation. Because it seems to me that only a person motivated by the desire to look “tough on drugs” in order to win votes would support such a heinous measure.
Think about it, Rep. Glidewell. You’re a drug-addicted mother of three, working a part-time job, going back to school, and attempting to get clean. You’re caught with a dirty drug screen on a random test. Now you’re forced into one year of rehab - how does that fit in with your work and daycare and school schedule? Then within the one year, you relapse - which happens - and, what, your housing assistance and family aid money is cut off? You’re forced to quit school, maybe even lose your home… yeah, out of school and homeless with three kids, that ought to help your rehab.
See, this kind of thinking comes from the paternalism of prejudice. It’s the idea that since they receive welfare, they are childlike failures whose lives must be controlled by the state. It’s the idea that we can’t be “subsidizing” somebody’s drug problem. Maybe I’m just sensitive to this, as I grew up the poor child of a drug addict and food stamps and WIC and state aid were the only thing that kept me fed, and if those had been taken away if my dad failed a drug screen, then why would you want to see child Russ starve because his dad was an addict?
This drug testing for welfare is counterproductive. Michigan already tried this and got shot down in the courts. It doesn’t reflect any sort of drug problem among welfare recipients, as welfare recipients use drugs at a rate at or below that of everyone else. It doesn’t help get welfare recipients off drugs; six states have already discovered mandatory random drug testing for welfare recipients to be less effective than questionnaire, job retraining, and other methods in detecting and preventing drug abuse. Drug testing, as I described in the vignette previously, distracts from actually solving the problems of low education, low skills, and psychological issues that keep people in poverty and on welfare.
And, in my mind, worst of all, as usual random drug testing is more discriminating to the marijuana user, who may test positive for weeks, than it is to the cocaine, meth, heroin, or alcohol user, who can clean up in a couple of days. Thus, a policy like this would force people away from the safest, least life-impacting drug, marijuana, and toward the harder, more life-impacting drugs. Furthermore, as we know, there are many medical uses for marijuana, and even though it is not recognized in Arkansas, it’s not hard to imagine there must be many people in that state using cannabis for medical purposes.
April 8th, 2008 at 6:21 am
FUCK THIS SHIT! WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS MY HATRED FOR THIS COUNTRYS GOVERNMENT. WE SPEND FUCKING SEVERAL BILLION A YEAR ON THE MACY’S PARADE FLOATS BUT STILL CANT EVEN MANAGE OUR OWN POOR.. I DON’T EVEN WANT TO BE CALLED AN AMERICAN!!
May 9th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I am glad they are finally doing something about this, but the mother can stay clean while she gives the money to her junkie boyfriends so that part is not fixed. If she does relapse and lose welfare that is fine with me, the kids can be taken from her if she can not find a place to live. There are so many people in this country that want to adopt kids that the kids will find a home, and it will hopefully be better than the one they are in right now. In Arkansas where I live we have parents making meth in their house with kids in it, the kids get burnt from mother’s pipe and breathe the chemicals and the police here will not do anything about it (Pulaski County, I reported it). This is just another way to crack down on the drug use that is wide spread in this state. I do not know where the NIH got their fudged facts but I live here and go to the welfare department, over half the people going in there have the meth scars all over their face and arms (nasty). If the system was perfect and the Police would do their jobs here then this bill would not be needed, but they are not so they need to get the powers to another agency to help out. I have no problem with pot, shrooms, or other natural drugs but this state has blown up with crackheads that need to be dealt with so the rest of the people can go back to normal lives. If you are going to comment on something like this, push away from the computer and go to Arkansas and see for yourself instead of believing the governments conspiracies!
May 12th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
This is a stupid idea you cant save people from there selves. this would make a bad situation worse. It all has to come to pass.