Today's issue is a tricky one. There has been a lot of talk lately about if welfare recipients should be drug tested before receiving their checks each month? To answer that one would have to be able to determine if the folks that receive welfare checks each month use illegal drugs more then anyone else. That would be very hard to do plus the fact that drug testing is expensive.
It is also important to remember that according to early studies, the number of welfare recipients that were using illegal drugs were not that large at all. As far as my personal thoughts are concerned, I myself think that illegal drug use among welfare recipie
nts is just about the same as illegal drug use of non welfare recipients. To take that one step farther, I would think that some of the rich folks in our country have just as much problem with illegal drug use if not more then the folks on welfare. Simply because they have more money. However, some states are in favor of mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients as reported by fox news.
I am sure we do have illegal drug use in this country by welfare just as I am sure we have illegal drug use in this county by non welfare recipients. Lets take a brief look at some of the people who made it into our homes every week via television and the ones that made the silver screen light up larger then life. These people were neither poor or on welfare and they all had serious drug issues. First one that comes to mind was John Belushi master comic. Then there was one that really shook me up because he was so young and so talented his life looked so good for him and that was River Phoenix. There is also Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro.
People like this can often do as they please and avoid the law for long periods of time. Even when they are caught for the use of illegal drugs,
they have very good high priced lawyers that can get them lighter sentience .
Now one thing we all need to remember is that because one might take drugs does not necessarily make that person a bad person! What makes someone good or bad is just what they have in their heart and soul. It is sort of like liking a person but not liking what they do or not liking that person's actions at the time.
Do drug user need help to kick the habit? The answer is yes but so do most cigarette smokers and heavy alcohol users. Also, it is important to understand that alcohol is indeed a chemical and that makes it a drug. The same go's for the nicotine in tobacco. The only real difference is alcohol and tobacco are legal for adults. However both can be addicting and hard to stop using.
However, the question is should welfare recipients be required to pass a drug test to be able to get their welfare checks? In this writers opinion the answer would be Yes. Most employers already require a pre-employment drug screen before one is hired. So if we accept that then, I think that a drug screen should be done to anyone applying for welfare, food stamps, medical card or government housing. Any government assistance program should have drug screening as a regular procedure.
Most states already have the legal right to do so but some states do not want to go that far. The 1996 Welfare Reform Act authorized - but did not require - states to impose mandatory drug testing as a prerequisite to receiving state welfare assistance.
I would think that as this recession worsens and I am almost sure that it will because believe me, The United States is far from being out of the woods as far as this recession is concerned.I would think we will see more and more states require a periodic unannounced drug screening on different recipients of government assistance programs. The reason is this The government is looking to save money anyway it can and even though some say that drug screening is racist or unconstitutional, I myself do not believe it is either. I happen to think that it makes good dollar& sense to do so.
Let me say that it is OK if you do not agree with me because that is what this great country we live in is all about. Different ideas, different ways of thinking and different ways of looking at things.
Until next time folks, have a great one and take care.
No comments:
Post a Comment