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Just when I thought I had seen it all and just when I thought this country’s bottom could get no lower, Kentucky Rep. Lonnie Napier, R-Lancaster, penned a Bill to further demonize and humiliate the poor with mandatory drug tests for people receiving food stamps, Medicaid, and welfare.
Here is a link to the article in Huffington Post. I would appreciate a link to the actual Bill, if this is possible.
Kentucky Lawmaker: Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Would Save… 4:10pm
Jan 18, 2011 … lbassett@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting … Under Kentucky House Bill 208, public-assistance recipients who fail the random drug …
www.huffingtonpost.com/…/lonnie-napier-welfare-drug-testing_n_810577.html
First of all, food stamps do not pay for toilet paper, much less illegal drugs.
Second, drug testing is expensive. Who will pay for this?
Third, if food stamp recipients are to be tested, then so should all of the legislators, Circuit Court Judges, prosecutors and every other tax-payer-funded employee, and if they turn up positive, they should lose their jobs and be locked up.
Such legislation only fuels the current all-out war on the poor.
[Cross-posted at: http://dumpsters2011.wordpress.com/]
61 Comments
Rick Scott’s proposed the same crap in Florida. I’m waiting to see if the clinics he owns and/or has an interest in get awarded the contract, should it become law.
I guess these imbeciles figure they can cover the cost of the tests by kicking people out of these programs. And who gets tested? The whole family, so if one smokes a little weed, they all suffer?
My jaw is, hold it a second…My jaw is on the floor…
How many people have to fail the drug test before the cost of the test and the cost of administering it makes the state any money?
He’s gotta recoup that investment. The sooner he starts, the sooner it pays dividends.
It depends on the threshold for testing positive. Set the bar low enough and that dollar burger you picked up from McDonald’s for lunch could get you kicked out of the program.
.In the five weeks that the program was in effect, the drug tests were positive in only eight percent of the cases, a percentage that is consistent with drug use in the general population. Of 268 people tested, only 21 tested positive for drugs and all but three were for marijuana.
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2003/04/10/879/80591
So we have some numbers of expected results now we need numbers on the costs of the tests I assume there are different tests for Pot, Coke, Meth, Heroin etc.
Maybe the state can save money by not testing for pot?
This is utterly asinine…! Wtf…? I totally agree that Mr. Lonnie Napier is the first in line for the drug test…! *gah*
Piss on the piss-poor ever more…! 8-(
ThingsComeUndone, maybe it’s me, but I would be tempted to tie one of these tests up in litigation until the ‘cows come home.’I'd eat, like, a poppy-seed bagel, and then I’d, and then I’d…
Hi mod I am getting the duplicate comment sign but my comment hasn’t posted whats up?
Clear your caches, and try again, please.
/~~~
Thank you so much for this link, TCU, I happen to like the Sixth Circuit!
Maybe the State can save money by not pursuing a persistent and pernicious pattern and practice of constitutional rape.
Mod I am still getting the duplicated comment note after I emptied the cache twice and reset safari I admit I tried to submit this comment a few times before I contacted you
Laws like this are intended to further marginalize, demonize, and humiliate the poor. They hate the poor. They have no evidence to believe that the poor are settled on their couches smoking dope and eating bonbons instead of looking for all those plush jobs that are going begging while everyone else is working their assess off trying to make a living. They don’t need any evidence because they know everything.
They are despicable and hateful people and it takes every ounce of control that I have to resist hating them back.
At times like these, I do what I can to apply the old martial arts technique of detaching and stepping aside to allow the hateful fury to rush by toward its destiny of self-annihilation. I don’t want to come in contact with its foul breath and reek of the dead.
They are addicted to greed, suspicion, and fear. They cannot dance or laugh. They fuck each other like jack hammers gone mad. They will die sick, twisted, and alone.
And they deserve it.
Short of clearing caches, the only reason you should get that alert is if you are attempting to post multiple comments too rapidly.
We have tested the system and found it to be working correctly. You might try using another browser to test.
/~~~
Thanks, Crane-Station. I’ve been enjoying your posts.
If we drug tested Congress for illegal drugs, alcohol excess and PharmPill abuse it wouldn’t cost us so much, since they’ve got good medical coverage.
Then we could weed out who gets to introduce drug bills and who gets to stfu. *g*
The Horror. The Horror.
Touche’ (holding a pitch-fork. and a torch)
plus a cup. and a dipstick.
Marijuana Methamphetamine Methadone
Cocaine Ecstasy Oxycodone
Opiates Benzodiazepines PCP
Amphetamine Barbiturates
http://www.drugtestsuccess.com/
$2.50 a test 11 tests =$27.50
Registered Nurse (RN) $22.83
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/State=Kentucky/Hourly_Rate
5 minutes each test 11 tests lets round up 55 minutes to an hour. A nurse in Kentucky gets $22.83 an hour
Marijuana Methamphetamine Methadone
Cocaine Ecstasy Oxycodone
Opiates Benzodiazepines PCP
Amphetamine Barbiturates
http://www.drugtestsuccess.com/
$2.50 a test 11 tests =$27.50
$22.83+ 27.50 = 50.33 worth of extra cost to Kentucky’s welfare program for every person tested.
268 people tested, only 21 tested positive for drugs and all but three were for marijuana.
Assuming potheads keep their benefits testing 268 people at $50.33 each costs the state $13,488.44 just to get 3 people assuming that Kentucky is as drug filled as Michigan.
How much is the average value of all the welfare benefits, food stamps etc he wants to cut?
Another reason to fight for legalization of pot on a state level.
Oh yeah [ holding Congressional piss cup]
Crane I am going try to post my comment at the regular FDL threat as an off topic comment I hope the Mod can move it to your thread its frustrating not being able to post:(
Okay, I will keep an eye out.
I tried on Wli’s thread Crane-Station now my comment is stuck in moderation
Sorry Eli’s thread
ThingsComeUndone,
Perhaps you can post a separate article (diary). I love your writing.
Thanks Crane-Station I love the topics your are covering I might write a diary later but having your thoughts on the facts I was going to mention in the comment before I write a diary would have made things better.
I’m going to take a break for a hour or two from the Lake this has been frustrating.
comic relief moment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NisCkxU544c
I know studying the US Constitution has gotten a bad name recently, but please allow me to point out the obvious: (1) The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution forbids unreasonable search and seizure (testing of blood, urine, hair, is obviously unreasonable); and (2) the Fifth Amendment forbids requiring anyone to give evidence against themselves, and requires that no one be deprived of life, Liberty, or property without due process of law. None of these Rights may be removed before conviction and sentencing, so no random drug test is legal if the crime is merely being too poor.
Drug testing has actually gotten worse than it used to be. The last time I had to deal with drug testing, at least a real urine sample was submitted to a lab with half of it set aside as a control. It scares me that a person could lose a job, welfare or unemployment benefits using test strips with, what appears to be, no recourse if one should test positive. Admittedly though, these types of test strips have been around awhile and one could hope they are really accurate.
Keep in mind that although a nurse might make $23 an hour, there is also a clinic or some such they are working for, effectively doubling the price. If I recall, about 15 years ago it was about $100 a pop for a drug test,but it was sent to an actual lab.
To me what is potentially the most egregious aspect to drug testing such people is the possible ability of the states to lower the threshold for testing positive. All of these tests allow for these drugs, at a certain level, to be found in one’s body and they compensate for that. What if the state wants to lower the bar? Much the same way states have gamed red light cameras by shortening the yellow light. There are nationwide standards for the length of yellow lights given any particular speed limit but some states have been caught shortening the yellow times to collect more money. Fortunately, more than a few ticketed drivers had the money and where with all to fight it; the same can’t be said of poor people.
1. I agree and
2. The ‘those things happen to other people’ thing…can happen to anyone.
Excellent points, thank you.
How about drug testing for investment bankers who lost lost trillions on crap mortgages instead?
Fuckin’ A!! Drug tests for one, drug tests for all. How could the Med Masters not be kind of into the idea, from the bottom line $$$.
Can you imagine the money a lobbyist with clean piss could make?! Off the books…
Is this an honest attempt to help drug addicts will the state enroll everyone who fails a drug test in intense rehab? By intense I mean a week to get clean either locked up or daily drug tests and drug counseling?
Or does Kentucky want all those welfare people to turn to crime because in this economy they won’t find jobs?
side note my original comment is still lost I see ( Sob)
Sorry Mod :)
Unless their drug use harms an other then I would argue drug use is not unreasonable.
What is the State’s aim to save money or help people I only pay taxes because they help people. This is not about keeping order kicking out welfare people will increase crime.
Just how many crimes does a person commit on average before they are caught? Then how much to prosecute and jail them never mind the cost of the drug tests.
I often say on my diaries if you don’t care about others you don’t care about yourself.
Kentucky doesn’t care about welfare people on drugs needing money because the state is broke but looking at this idea it seems they don’t care about the State’s money.
I think this bill will be sponsored be the private prison industry.
Kentucky does not give a rat’s sideways blue **** about helping anyone with addiction…or anything else. I know, personally.
PS More will be revealed.
I think you are right we need to investigate who funded this guy’s campaign:)
Yup.
Then lets point out how much more money this stupid idea will cost the state penny wise pound foolish by passing this Kentucky will have to raise taxes or increase its debt. Debt is a tax increase deferred to a later date with interest tacked on.
If all the GOP cares about is money then its by money we will persuade them. Unless hate of the poor is greater than their love of money which I admit is very likely.
This violates neither of those. It’s silly policy, but it doesn’t violate the 4th or 5th amendments. The reason, of course, is that they’re consenting to the tests. If they don’t want to be tested, they don’t have to take the money. It’s the same power of the purse that enables the feds to impose all sorts of otherwise-unconstitutional requirements on the states.
It seems that there was a case directly on point. MI did the same thing back in 2000. Someone on welfare sued, the district court found it was an unconstitutional 4th amendment violation, and then the 6th circuit overturned the decision and found the law constitutional. (link to that decision) Subsequently the 6th circuit moved to hear the case en banc, and the court sitting en banc deadlocked 6-6, which had the effect of upholding the district court.
So there’s authority going both ways, but the better argument is that it’s not unconstitutional.
It will be this kind asshole overreach that will finally set this has been country on fire.
Let it burn!
I don’t think this is new – I recall the same kind of rhetoric back in the 80s and 90s…
PS Why not go ahead and lock up the unemployed while we are at it:
Sen. Hatch wants unemployed to face mandatory drug tests – The …
Jun 15, 2010 … You need a drug test to get a job — why should receiving benefits (directly … healthcare in the future, Jon Walker argues at firedoglake. …
thehill.com/…/103357-hatch-wants-drug-tests-for-recipients-of-federal-benefits
Guys: Can I air-guitar and pick up scrap metal at the same time without being arrested for enjoying myself?
Many unemployed are over 50 and taking one or more prescription drugs. Some of those drugs might be psychoactive and/or affect job performance. So do people who test positive for these drugs get the benefits cut off? And if they do, will the drugs they tested positive for become unaffordable to them?
I see a booming business for faith-based drug counselors with flimsy credentials. The drug-testing proposal will send a huge captive audience their way.
Affirmative, Crane Station.
Unless you’re armed with an explosive vibrator.
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2011/01/18/tuesday-late-night-bad-vibes/
When you provide a valid prescription and/or properly labeled medication bottle, you are all right. For the time being.
Here’s an idea: Wanna vote? Piss first. And squat and cough…
I have taken a vibrator on a plane before. There, everyone knows.
I’m reminded of the time long ago on American Bandstand when Dick Clark asked an excited sweating teenager chewing gum to rate a song.
“Good beat, man. I give it a nine.”
Best no let it show.
Insane.
Words fail me, almost.
I’ll just echo Mason@6:36 or so, up above:
“. . . They will die sick, twisted, and alone.
And they deserve it.”
Seems to me they are overstepping their authority a bit.
Beyond “Blaming the Victim” as the late Dr. William Ryan put it, they are also trying to deny assistance that is almost all paid for by the federal government. I believe the only thing the state actually pays for is 1/2 of the workers salaries.
Many low income, if they do drugs do it for the same reason the rich do it, and those with PTSD do it. They take it as medicine.
And who would not, they sleep in the cold in card board boxes with little or no heat, and about 1/2 of them go to work every morning.
Excellent points, danw5.
My 23 year old daughter is on medicaid. She has been disabled since birth with cerebral palsey. She is in a wheel chair and cannot work. If her medicaid were revoked for any reason, she would be most likely be dead in three months and suffer excruciating pain in the process. If marajuana were able to relieve any of her discomfort, I would make every effort to acquire it for her.
How is it that the party of compassionate conservatives gets away with calling the democrats the party of “Death Panals”?
seeker, I love your website. And in answer to your question, I do not know. But we are here for your daughter and we are here for you.