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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMinnesota Officials Complain That Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Is A Waste Of Time And Money
Typical Teabaggerism: Create a bogeyman, waste time and money, punish the innocent.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/30/3108101/minnesota-drug-testing/#
The drug-testing policy was touted as a method of saving taxpayer dollars, intended to lower the number of people who receive state benefits by excluding drug users. But county officials and anti-poverty advocates point out its based on the flawed assumption that a large portion of welfare beneficiaries are using illegal drugs. In reality, according to a recent analysis from the states Department of Health Services, welfare recipients are far less likely to have felony drug convictions than the general population.
And the law which requires each country to conduct random drug tests among the small pool of people who receive government benefits and also have a prior felony drug conviction will result in a web of complicated new regulations. Its up to each county to figure out how to enforce it, so local officials are currently devising plans for notifying beneficiaries about the new law and asking them to come in for testing. Since the legislation didnt include additional funding to carry out the drug testing, counties are taking on any extra costs themselves.
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One of the biggest issues with Minnesotas new law is that some people may end up getting cut off from their benefits not because theyre actually using drugs, but because they dont have the right paperwork. Now, in order to keep receiving state assistance, the people who have previously been convicted of a drug felony must prove that theyre either participating in drug treatment, have successfully completed treatment, or have received a county assessment confirming they dont treatment. But according to Kathleen Davis, a supervising attorney at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, many of these welfare recipients are homeless or in transitional housing. It may be too difficult for local officials to contact them in time, and they may not have all the required documents.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)bcool
(219 posts)Kansas is set to begin a drug-testing program for some welfare recipients similar to one in Missouri that cost about $500,000 that has uncovered fewer than two dozen people trying to abuse the system.
After eight months and 636 drug test requests, 20 people tested positive in Missouri this year. About 200 others refused to comply.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/state-and-regional/missouri/kansas-to-start-testing-welfare-recipients/article_c1d8898f-c184-5140-8bd7-77965282a022.html
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)Exactly what they tested positive for.
I can get a quarter oz of shake for $20 and it will last 2 - 3 weeks. Try that with alcohol.
I may test positive due to the metabolites which linger.
What's the point of this again?
Screw you J D Anslinger !
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)...this is what idiots do.
- Why is anyone surprised by this?
K&R
''We can, if we so desire, refuse to cooperate with the blind forces that are propelling us.'' ~Aldous Huxley
Stargazer99
(2,600 posts)DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Jerry442
(1,265 posts)...then this was a successful policy. Evil maybe, but not stupid.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Jenoch
(7,720 posts)Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)This is the way it always is. Some hare-brained mandate that has to be paid for by "someone else". I have heard that Florida tried this, and it cost them a fortune and did not decrease the numbers on welfare. You go for it, Minnesota, reinvent the wheel.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Of course why would that stop them? That's not why they're doing it anyways.
- They do it because they're fucking evil.
The Comics Curmudgeon