Drug testing: a solution in search of a problem
When the state’s leaders decide to implement drug testing of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens–those who are trying to get by on unemployment and/or welfare benefits–they might as well hang a sign in the rotunda that says “OUT OF IDEAS.” We have so many problems in this state, and this is what Rick Perry and David Dewhurst come up with? Pathetic. It might have occurred to Dewhurst that his costly initiative for steroid testing was a complete flop: 51,635 tests done over the last 2½ years, which resulted in 21 positive tests, 2 unresolved, and 139 not passing for procedure violations, such as unexcused absences. Last spring, all 3,308 tests were clean.
Florida’s experience with drug testing should end the discussion over whether this policy makes sense. From the New York Times:
Ushered in amid promises that it would save taxpayers money and deter drug users, a Florida law requiring drug tests for people who seek welfare benefits resulted in no direct savings, snared few drug users and had no effect on the number of applications, according to recently released state data.
The numbers from Florida: 108 of 4,086 applicants failed the drug test, or 2.6%.
When the same proposal came up in Colorado, according to the Denver Post, an analysis by the non-partisan Colorado legislative council found that when costs and savings were accounted for, the policy change would have added $219,520 to Colorado’s budget, and it would have forced counties to spend $482,600. What did lawmakers in Colorado do? They rejected the proposal.
If the drug-testing proposal becomes law in Texas, it will almost certainly be challenged in court, as it has been in other states, adding to the millions of dollars Texas has spent on litigation. But the biggest problem with drug testing is that the real victims are not the applicants who fail the test, but their children, who will lose the meager benefits the state provides.
amarillobymorning says:
How about this….let’s drug test RP and the Dew before they’re able to claim credits, deductions and exemptions on their taxes. And everyone else in this state who uses a government program (tax expenditure) to help their financial situtation.
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Steven Watkins says:
Paul,
We may run out of water, breathe dirty air, have more unwanted pregnancies, produced stupid workers, develop atrocious healthcare in this state, but, by golly, we will make Texas a Bible-believing, proudly ignorant, hopelessly poor, and economic wasteland governed by “conservative ideas.” I join with my fellow secessionists in this state and our beloved Senator John Cornyn in stating that this is what we need to show America.
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Willie James Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 9:13 am
De, troot. Dat.
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Uncle Karl says:
More red meat for the wingnut faction. While we are at it we should drug test concealed carry permit holders and applicants.
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Ralph Reply:
November 23rd, 2012 at 8:01 pm
Fine with us. How about we test all the drug proponents who want legalization and no testing before they are allowed to vote. Courts don’t give validity to decisions made under the influence, why should we allow votes to be cast by drug addled junk heads.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
liberals don’t to be drug tested? huh…
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Kenneth D. Franks Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 9:31 am
“liberals don’t to be drug tested? huh…”
That is a sentence fragment. It doesn’t start with a capital letter, has a word apparently left out, and in general doesn’t make sense.
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ANON Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 9:44 am
He is on drugs.
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BCinBCS Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
Thanks ANON@9:44, it was my laugh for the day!
ghostofann Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:58 pm
So which category do you fall in, JBB? Bored state worker, or bored retired state worker?
Tool.
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Wonka Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
JBB. Relax dude, take a shot of whiskey and look at your life….think of your corps days at A&M and all the spanking fun, think of your ideological superiority and intellectual dominance over the common man. Reflect on how damn smart and witty you are. Think with pride on your NRA bumper sticker and the little wife in the kitchen making you an omelet. Then go pull your head out of your ass.
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buy a clue Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:26 am
Be careful jbb. If they start drug testing unemployement receipients you won’t be able to buy cheezy-poofs on the government teat anymore. HAHAHA
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Ag02 Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
He get’s plenty to eat. He get a discount where he works.
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Blue Dogs says:
Folks, they’re doing this in order to blunt possible primary challengers for 2014 and solidify the religious right.
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Ag02 Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
News flash: the religious right is going to be toast by 2016 and these fools want to make Texas even more irrlevant. Wait for the payback when the next round of base closures come.
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Pat Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Uh, not in the Republican primaries, they won’t.
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Anonymous says:
Didn’t our big spending Lt Governor already assess the merits of this idea with steroid testing for high school students? Considering the smashing success of that effort, I’m glad to see he’s throwing more of my tax dollars down a politically motivated rat hole.
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paulburka Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Dewhurst got TEA to set aside $1 million for steroid testing.
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FLPD says:
And why are Dewhurst and Perry so joined at the hip(lip) these days? Is it Dave Carney? It wasn’t all that long ago that Perry & Dewhurst had no regard for one another.
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Willie James says:
Voter ID and now this. Anyone who thinks Rick Perry can run for national office in 2015 needs to be drug tested. This guy is making it worse for R’s everywhere. We are a clown state, bro.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
November 19th, 2012 at 10:25 am
Perry ain’t running in 2014 because he’s just doing this to preserve his legacy.
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paulburka Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 8:24 am
I believe Perry will run in 2014 because he can’t give up the lavish lifestyle it provides him.
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I have an Idea says:
I think they are both trying to cut G.P. Bush off at the pass, they know that with his families history of drug abuse they can use this to put him on the spot. They are trying to make sure he does not run against either of them.
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Indiana Pearl Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
What? Is the Bush family on drugs?
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Wonka Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
They’ve been known to take a snort or burn one.
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paulburka Reply:
November 16th, 2012 at 8:29 am
This talk of “drug abuse” is nonsense. It goes back to rumors during W’s presidential race.
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Gandalf says:
This is just the beginning. ALL the theatrical bill drama we are about to see over the next several months will be based on what kind of bang for the buck Perry can get from it on the next campaign. So, politics will drive policy as it did leading up to the past presidential race Perry eyed.
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Dan C says:
Can someone please convince Julian Castro to run for Governor in 2014? Maybe that will excite people and help turn the state Democratic Party into a real organization so that we can at least start to get rid of these total and complete morons.
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paulburka Reply:
November 16th, 2012 at 8:30 am
Too much too soon.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
November 19th, 2012 at 10:25 am
Castro is NOT running for Governor in 2014 and I’m hearing rumors about Houston Mayor Annise Parker (D) possibly going for the US Senate.
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garyfan says:
Another crazy idea by our Aggie-in-chief. But, I’m sure that this will be a legislative priority for the coming session, just as Voter ID and Sanctuary Cities were last time. Anything but addressing the real issues that confront the state.
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DKBMON says:
Ricky and Co are hateful MORONS. What a shock.
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Gandalf says:
The emergency items in the next session will be items that get the most impact for Republican primary voters… and those issues are not the same issues as ones the general public is interested in. So, it is the “bubble” effect written about after the Romney loss, in Texas. The big debates in how we fund schools (property taxes vs other) or health care costs, those debates can be ignored if you are only chasing the Republican primary voters. You can instead use a bait bill, to appear to do a great thing in sound and fury but signify nothing.
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Anonymous says:
I think every employee of a company that gets tax payer money from the Enterprise fund should be drug tested. If any employees test positive, they have to forfeit that money, and pay back what was given to them up to that point. I don’t want my precious tax dollars going to some drug fiend trying to manufacture a truck while high! No sir. Or design a semiconductor chip while stoned! No sir. And all legislators and their staffs should be drug tested (and given a breath test for alcohol before being admitted on the house or senate floor) Maybe the IV manslaughter charges would be fewer down in Austin if we tested those who really are substance abusers.
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Bodhisattva Reply:
November 16th, 2012 at 9:26 am
Drug testing for former legislators receiving retirement benefits from the State. They’re getting about $150K a year for doing nothing.
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Whoa, Nellie! Reply:
November 18th, 2012 at 11:12 am
Drug testing isn’t about checking if you’re intoxicated while testing, but rather a way to punish for the most part someone who casually smokes a little grass on a weekend but can’t flush the proof out of his body for days. You can be cold sober at work but drug testing isn’t about measuring your work abilities, only monitoring your off-hours habits. And as usual, it does nothing to address the issue of alcohol abuse, the leading drug of choice in this country.
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Willie says:
Darned good thing they didn’t drug test Goodhair before the….oops….uh…bedate, debate….uh.
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jpt51 says:
The initiative, fostered by TPPF’s Arlene Wohlgemuth is the same mean spirited Ft. Worth legislator who privatized Texas’ then award winning welfare program – claiming it would save over $450 million. The project was a disaster, not only did projected savings evaporate but services to the poor were so bad Texas was put on probation by the feds. The program became the laughing stock of the nation and the project ended in disgrace. Voters promptly kicked her out of office. She lives in a separate universe. Why does this lady hate the poor and unemployed?
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Indiana Pearl Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Mitch Daniels did the same thing in Indiana, privatized welfare. He had to eat crow.
What is it about these GOPpers? Making politcal points on the backs of the poor?
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Willie Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Always have. But they are having less effect every cycle.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
November 19th, 2012 at 10:26 am
Yet, Daniels won re-election by one of the biggest landslide margins of any GOP governor in Indiana state history.
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Dan C says:
If there are some people who are “cut off” from public assistance as a result of positive drug tests, what will be the consequences to the taxpayers? Choose(a) or (b).
A) They will straighten up and become self-sufficient, tax paying members of society.
B) They will turn to crime and thus become an even bigger danger to, and drain upon, us?
My money says “b”. So let’s be really stupid, and spend a lot of money on tests that either will have no effect, or make things worse.
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Willie Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Correct.
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Robert says:
Yep, just like with voter fraud the dems, along with allies in the media, will simply assert, against all logic, that there is no problem of drug use in the welfare-class. What great leadership.
My only problem with the drug testing is that if it costs more than it saves it’s not worth it.
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Anonymous Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
You want to see drug problems? Go to West Lake, Plano, Fort Worth Country Day, Highland Park, and Tyler.
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Tornado Mc Fee Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Yep. The big drug problems are in the Republican suburbs and small white towns like College Station or Katy.
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Anonymous says:
Maybe we should have them sign a blood oath to the Ten Commandments in order to get welfare? No adultery, no alcohol, of you don’t go to church on the sabbath, etc.
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Reagan Republican says:
Nero is playing the fiddle again.
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Tornado Mc Fee says:
Yep. The republic is in dire peril and only the NRA patriots and Rick Perry conservatives can save her….liberty and freedom are over, man.
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Truman Sparks says:
Blue Dogs is partially correct as this is a right flank check. However, if the Romney 47% assessment is the target, I guess the thinking is “let’s make less of them”. Less dependence on government = people who may not vote D. Cynical view but who knows where this stuff really comes from.
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texun says:
I don’t think that testing Perry for drugs would be fair: it might confuse pot with shoe leather, deposited the last time he put his foot in his mouth.
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Vernon says:
I’ve said it before, but I still have yet to see any kind of legitimate study that shows the numbers on people receiving government assistance who are either fleecing the system, spending that money on drugs, having even more kids so they can receive more benefits, etc…
Basically, I’d like to see some data that supports the idea that “Welfare Queens” exist at the level they’re rumored to and to what degree they they are harming the system.
Until I do, I won’t be able to shake the feeling that this type of legislation is a dog and pony show that plays off the fear that ‘lazy poor people are using your tax money to get high.’
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Truman Sparks Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
It does not matter. That will be the story as to why they need to do these things. The media will play along and the Obama phone crowd will be portrayed as the enemy.
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Pat says:
Drug testing for welfare recipients. Rigorous voter ID laws. Can we just admit that this is veiled racism, or at the very least, is perceived as such by the bulk of minorities? These types of policies are dog whistles to the coveted White Xenophobic Primary Voter demographic.
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Not an editor.... Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 9:34 pm
[quote]Can we just admit that this is veiled racism, [/quote]
Veiled? What’s veiled about it?
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Not an editor.... Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 9:38 pm
Veiled? What’s veiled about it?
(Paul…sorry for the formatting above…please delete if possible.)
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John Johnson Reply:
November 16th, 2012 at 6:02 am
What is the ethnic make-up of welfare recipients in Texas? Nationally, I understand that Caucasian’s make up the majority.
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Indi says:
OUT OF IDEAS is right. I encourage those who disagree with the current GOP regime in Texas to vote with their feet and leave the state. They are running Texas into the ground. I’m a native Texan who moved in June. Let me tell you it’s been quite liberating to live in a state where these so called “conservatives” are not making a mess of things and where corporations and insurance companies cannot run roughshod over the people. Texas is on the road to ruin if true leaders do not emerge.
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Tornado Mc Fee Reply:
November 16th, 2012 at 8:34 am
True. Lining their own pockets by encouraging votes from medieval social conservatives that vote against their own self interest. Conservatives have destroyed the foundations of liberty and freedom.
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Lance says:
They should drug test Governors… Wasn’t Rick Perry high on pain pills not too long ago????
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Truman Sparks says:
How about drug testing anyone who gets any government benefit? Gee, wouldn’t that solve the problem? Anyone who drives on a public road, walks on a public sidewalk, sits in a public park…Or anyone who breathes free air because of the protection of our service men and women. We should all be tested in order to sleep beneath the blanket of protection they provide. Anyone care to doubt that logic? And BTW I do not do drugs (illegal ones anyway)
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WURSPH Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 8:56 pm
I say let’s really get at the problem—Test EVERYONE and the Pope first.
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Anonymous says:
Lets drug test soldiers and veterans.
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Whoa, Nellie! Reply:
November 18th, 2012 at 11:15 am
Soldiers of all branches in combat zones are routinely given chemical enhancers to battle fatigue, stress, pain — they’re walking pharmacies. This is one of the under-reported ugly stories of the truth about our Heroes in Uniform.
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donuthin says:
I must admit that I do not care for my tax dollars to go for buying illegal drugs, however, I doubt that it is a problem of enough magnitude to justify mandatory testing. Just as troubling to me is to stand in line at the grocery checkout and see people that are grossly overweight buying chips, frozen dinners, soft drinks,etc. Paying for some of it with cash and some with Lone Star Card. The claim that healthy food is too expensive just doesn’t cut it as you can eat healthy at a reasonable cost if you are willing to prepare and cook it. I think without any scientific research to back by feeling, that obesity may be one of our most significant challenges. It does seem to be most pervasive among low income families, though certainly not exclusively.
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ghostofann Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
You really don’t understand poor people at all, do you?
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jerry only Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:18 pm
??? What doesn’t he understand?
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Tornado Mc Fee Reply:
November 16th, 2012 at 8:35 am
So, the Lone Star Card shoudl be used for only what the Texas GOP decides? Good lord let the beef lobby in on this one….
ghostofann Reply:
November 16th, 2012 at 8:42 am
He doesn’t understand the reasons obesity is higher among folks living in poverty.
donuthin Reply:
November 16th, 2012 at 7:08 pm
I probably understand as well as anyone. Any single explanation is way too simplified but basically is because the caloric intake is too great and the exercise level is too low. But why that among those living in poverty? Many reasons including lack of knowledge of proper diet, often stressed with no hope on the horizon for their life improving, living to eat rather than eating to live. But is not because healthy food is more costly than prepared, frozen dinners or frozen pizza, chips, hotdogs, etc. You can eat pretty healthy with a box of oatmeal, pinto beans, cornbread, fresh spinach, eggs, some hamburger,chicken, and pork. Even growing a small garden. The obesity problem is epidemic, probably has at least as many health impacts and consequently cost as the drug problem. And I completely understand that it also occurs thru all races and economic levels of our society.
WURSPH says:
Oops & Dew are just playing to the Ant-47%ers just like Mitt the Vanquished did in his telephone call to the folks who gave him the big bucks for his race. It seems he really does believe that 47% of us (and especially Blacks) are bums and no-goods who can be (and are)bought by federal spending and promises. Talk about “bring us together”…
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institutionalized says:
Just making vouchers seem civilized
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Anonymous says:
What about medicaid recipients? I bet there are a bunch of 90 year olds just lying around in their beds, full of one drug or another. Test em all. Or better yet, just get rid of all this. UI, TANF, Medicaid. Pull yerself up by yer bootstraps! Its time Texas showed the world that helping poor people just keeps them poor. Don’t help them, and they’ll finally go get that $100,000 a year executive position they keep turning down. They’ll stop lying around. Being poor and sick and lazy. That’ll teach em.
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jpt51 says:
No where else more than Texas is Haley Borbour’s advise needed but it will be ignored.
Former Gov. Haley Barbour says the GOP needs a “proctology exam”
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Houston SD6 says:
I think Gov. Perry should require a drug test for anyone wanting to run for Senate District 6 in Houston. I hear a couple of the people considering running are heavy drug users.
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Realist says:
Drug testing for ALL welfare recipients is bad enough, but wait until legislators who vote to put ALL unemployed Texans drawing limited unemployment benefits have to face constituents in their districts…even their friends who lost their jobs. Having them pee into a cup to get a few dollars to feed their families will not go over well & everyone of them that support & vote for such nonsense should be ashamed of themselves. Unemployed people, even in the Republican suburbs, will not vote for someone who would intentionally shame them like that when they were laid off from the job. The legacy of the Republican Party is being torn apart by politicians trying to appease the worst elements in their Party. It wasn’t a good idea in the past & it’s not now. Perhaps some calmer heads in the legislature will prevail. After all not everything the Gov wants gets done. And, Dewhurst is making a fool of himself for promoting the idea in the hope that the tea party conservatives will view him differently.
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Whoa, Nellie! Reply:
November 18th, 2012 at 11:19 am
Perry and Dewhurst together are the best advertisements I can think of for a term limits law in this state.
They’ve been able to cement themselves into office thanks to the power of appointments and cronyism, problems that could be reduced by limiting the amount of tenure permitted in an elective office.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
November 19th, 2012 at 10:28 am
Nellie, that will NEVER, NEVER happen in your lifetime.
Have you watched the TV show “Boss” on Starz Network ? It’s about a powerful Chicago mayor who will kill or manipulate anyone to stay in office.
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Ausowl says:
Perry and Dew – making life meaningful, exciting even, for legal aid attorneys, Texas Civil Rights Project and the ACLU.
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Whoa, Nellie! says:
I have been laid off, worked for depts. that were axed by new management, and taken temp jobs that came to an end, and in all cases I was compelled to apply for unemployment benefits (which are paid for by taxes on business and hence subsidized by workers). So in Perry and Dewhurst’s eyes, this automatically makes me a suspected criminal or drug user? And I should be humiliated and treated with suspicion and guilty-until-proven-innocent violations of my civil rights? These ass-clowns are beyond pathetic.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
November 19th, 2012 at 10:28 am
If you don’t like the way things are done in Texas, then move to CALIFORNIA or ILLINOIS.
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Whoa, Nellie! says:
I do look forward to the day when I can leave this state that has been my home for the better part of forty years. It won’t be to Illinois or California (or even Russia either; isn’t that how the stock response usually goes?), as Blue Dogs so cheerfully suggests (Texas, the Friendly State, you betcha!). But it will be to a more rational location. It’s always a bad sign when any criticisms of a place are met with knee-jerk invitations to leave. You blind fools are welcome to stay and go down with the ship, but I’m not letting it drag me under with you. Good luck, cause you’re gonna need it.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
November 19th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Nellie, Texas will always be a conservative state regardless which party controls state government.
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EvelynS. says:
Gov. Rick Perry & Rep. Dewhurst must be stopped. We are looking at our State thru rose color glasses; as thou all these things are happening to other states. No, this madness is here in Texas. All this talk about seceding from the US and @ least 10k signed the petition for secession, voter’s suppression, voter’s I.D, policies geared to cause division, Gov. Rick run for the presidency what an embarrassment, etc.. Now, they want to drug test workers that loss their jobs thru no fault of theirs. Are they trying to cause out of work workers to commit suicide? Loosing your job & hoping to find another is depressing enough. Now, you have to give a little of yourself for drugged testing to qualify for a little assistance, extra humiliating for a person with pride. And you secessionist thank the US Gov. is too reaching. I got news for you, your state government is over reaching. If you want a better state to live in, then get involved & be aware of policies being put into law by your state. We should voice our opinions to the state government & stop tearing each other down.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
November 26th, 2012 at 10:56 am
Evelyn, most of the Texas population will continue to re-elect people like Perry and others to statewide office because they don’t want to change the status quo in Austin.
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Anonymous says:
To take away the parents benefits would be fine…but to punish the kids for their parents mistakes would be terrible on the future for everyone…
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Urine Clean says:
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