Should a drug test be required?
should a person who wishes to recieve welfare benefits (unemployment benefits, food stamps, housing, etc.) be required to take a drug test and why?
| yes | 20 | |
| no | 10 |
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anti-hero
It's pointless. It would cost a ton to test that many people. More than it would save. Plus it is easy to cheat a drug test. So morally I say yes. But for practical reasons I say no.
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Anonymous Post Author
not if we didn't tell them its a drug test. they make it a requirement to donate blood in order to qualify for welfare. The only part that would cost money is screening the blood for drugs. It would be a win win because those that aren't on drugs and don't have any diseases would give a shit ton of useful blood
can't cheat a blood test
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modernism
I would think that if drug tests were a requirement for moral reasons, then we'd go about it in a moral way. That would mean informing the people that the blood was going to be used as a drug test.
Withholding information wouldn't be an ethical option.
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anti-hero
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Anonymous Post Author
its really easy to get hard drugs out of your system if they just can hang through the withdrawls long enough to take the test then they get both welfare and drugs
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modernism
There's always going to be people who cheat out of something - that's unavoidable. What would happen if someone starts off clean when they give blood, but while they're on the welfare benefits, then begin to use?
Plus it's unrealistic to think that people are not going to question why their blood is needed to get on welfare. It probably won't be that hard to realize that the only thing blood could possibly be needed for was to test for drugs.
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[Old Memory]
Soon as one person failed the test, word would get out that they are testing for drugs.
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anti-hero
Still, even if half were on drugs (they aren't) you have to pay employees, electricity, water, rent on a building, insurance... plus if the blood test turned up a disease you'd have to treat that. There is no way to make this work.
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VirgilManly
Studies have been done that prove the stupidity of the idea. It costs the government more to pay for the testing so it saves no money.
"The statistics show that applicants actually test positive at a lower rate than the drug use of the general population. "http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/02/26/3624447/tanf-drug-testing-states/
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Unimportant
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anti-hero
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seekelp
Sure, but the money is being taken away either way. Withholding it from drug users won't solve any problems by itself, and will probably just make junkies more desperate.
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jethro
If I have to take a drug test to get a job, so should they. Afterall public assistance payments is a job for many people. In fact some families are on it for generations. I also think if you get public assistance you should have to perform some form of public service as well.
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(s)aint
Why would you? I mean what harm is there if say a person is on welfare and refrain from social activities and instead uses the money they would put on a bus card on some pot?
Just as with alcohol there´s a difference between someone who uses drugs and someone who spends all their money on drugs.
To punish an addict does not solve anything at all. I am not saying that we should give addicts money for their addiction but why not instead have it so that addicts gets help to figure out where they stand in life and what they want.
here in Sweden they drug-test you if you want to go to a psychiatrist and get anti-depressive or ADHD medication.
And at the same time they would require you to try these drugs before giving you therapy in some places ...
Maybe I am stupid but as a person with ADHD I really do not see the difference between me spending money on ADHD medicine that I take every day or if I spent the same amount on weed that would last 2-3 months for me.
Why do many people think it´s totally cool for a person to be on 2-3 different medications in order to get their lives together and if same person was using weed? Or even heavier drugs?
Is it not up to each and everyone of us to decide what we feel good with?
(This of course only applies to people without kids and who can show up at work without being high)
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Riddler
When you get them done for agency's and homeless shelters and welfare they dont always send you to a lab. They get home test kits which are a lot more sensitive than the ones you get in a lab so its much easier to get a false negative. If you are going to take one I recommend not taking ANYTHING at all. That means no cough syrup, no aspirin, no anything at least 2 weeks before the test.
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anti-hero
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thegypsysailor
I think it's a really good idea. We can just take the cost from the waste in the military budget.
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