Missouri House supports drug tests for welfare recipients

by The Associated Press

2:28 PM CST, January 26, 2011
 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri House gave preliminary approval to a bill that would allow drug tests of people seeking or receiving welfare if the state suspects they use illegal drugs.  Under the bill endorsed on Wednesday, people who fail a drug test would lose their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits for one year.

Proponents say taxpayers don't want people to use welfare money to buy drugs.  The House amended the bill so the Department of Social Services may not discriminate by race or ethnicity when it chooses whom to test for drugs.

A second vote is needed in the House before the bill goes to the Senate, where a committee considered three similar measures on Tuesday.  That committee will vote on a bill next week.
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Drug testing bill is HB73.

 

I remember once a guy I worked with was standing in line at the check out stand at a food store, and the lady in front of him was buying steak's with food stamps she said for her dog. Well my friend was a very out spoken dude anyway. I guess he brought 9 kinds of hell down upon her, created quite a sene I heard, and she left .......without her steaks

My problem is that some false indicators can be caused by medication or historical exposure with out actual use. In some cases peoples lives have been harmed by false indicators with out a second test by a differant service and claims having long time delays before a review is available. Lemmon poppyseed muffins have caused false tests and loss of income for month before reviews came up. (many years ago)

Valid test i will support but don't shoot em for a failure that has not ben confirmed.

My concern is that there would be kids that would go hungry or become homeless because mom or dad is allready addicted to some kind of drug allready. Drug treatment should be offered first and then if they fail a test, well then thats on them an i'm ok with the loss of funds. There has to be a safetynet always for kids in my opinion.

Well, now days the tests they do can tell what drugs are in your system, and if you don't have a prescription for that drug, you are screwed. There is nothing wrong with giving these tests to anyone on Public Assistance, in order to receive such assistance. People don't need to be taking the taxpayers money to buy Booze and Drugs.

There are specific ways drugs tests are done and they have to follow Federal law, or at least I would assume, since it's a Federal program.

The sample is taken under specific conditions, whether urine or hair and the donor must sign and show ID proving that it is his or her sample. Once the sample is collected, it is sealed and the donor initials the seal (depending on protocol). Once tested, if the sample shows a substance, the physician testing the sample will send it to the next physician, it must be double tested in order to prove a positive result. However, then the donor must be contacted and prescription information will be given by the donor, including recent ER or office visits where substances were given, if applicable. If the donor can show cause why he or she ingested the substance legally, the result is considered a negative and reported as such. It's actually pretty hard to have a positive if the person is legally ingesting a substance and can prove it.

I did workman's comp, DOT, military, corporate, etc. drug screens and its not as privacy threatening as people want to claim.

When it comes to the kids who's parents test positive... why are these kids even with their parents who refuse to work and collect our tax dollars and aren't even supporting the kids anyway if they're using illegal substances?

Welfare is a state to state program that has nothing to do with the federal government. Therefore the testing is done at the local level with the results being shared by different agencies thru out the state including your employer if they ask for the results. Some states allow the use of medical marijuana and i'm wondering what that would do for your eligibility to receive welfare benefits. My whole point was that i don't believe the goverment should jump into removing kids and throwing people out of their homes just because mom and dad like to smoke a joint after the kids go to bed to relax. To me it's no different than having a cocktail or two and thats legal in all fifty states.

We have random drug testing where I work....you don't pass...you don't work. If I don't work, my kids (although the furry kind) don't eat. What's the difference.

Having been a welfare recipient, with a child, and also a former addiction problem, I, too, wonder what happens then?
While I think Missouri, or any other state is well within their right to drug test, (Do they get booted off for alcohol?) what happens to the people who have come to depend on this help, and without it, would go homeless? For those about to apply, it's a greater deterrent. Having walked in these shoes, I can tell you, simply getting kicked off the dole, so to speak, won't help the one's with addiction, and certainly won't benefit the children. It just puts them all in a more desperate situation. They really need a better solution, like real help, not just referrals to this or that entity, which usually ends up NOT being covered by medicaid, so the wheels just keep spinning. I was one of the fortunate ones, who came out the other side. My homelessness wasn't caused by using. That was the economy. But the mere fact of the matter is, until this government can offer real solutions to real problems, they are just wasting OUR money paying for drug testing. Ride Free
Tweek

As I said in the other thread, there will no doubt be a lot of work to be done to be sure this is done accurately and fairly for all persons involved. I've been on welfare and I'd have no trouble submitting to a drug screen just as I do with work. Welfare was meant to help people get back on their feet, not sustain a lifestyle. There are too many programs out there for people to just sit at home and collect our tax dollars.

In regards to medical marijuana, if the patient has a prescription, then it's considered a negative result if it's legal in that state to use the medication. If it's just someone lighting up a joint then it's illegal, same as meth, crack, and other substances.

There's no easy answer to this situation, nor is there one simple solution. But I still have a problem with people on welfare who live and eat better than me because I'm the one paying for THEM to sit at home while I bust my duff at work all week. There IS real help out there, but that would mean a lot of folks going and getting it. Unfortunately, a lot of them simply don't want it. There are programs to train people for new careers, day cares to help with watching their kids, housing allowances, clothing banks, and so much more. Welfare was not meant to sustain people for a lifetime but rather help them out of the situation they are trying to recover from.

Drug tests aren't that expensive anyway, so I don't really think the burden on the taxpayers is going to be substantial. I've also worked for the state in retraining people for new careers and the those who really wanted the help, got it. Those who didn't, quit.

I can't do drugs and work, so why should someone be able to do drugs and reap from what I earn?