NC Senate approves drug testing for welfare

[R8RFAN]

NC Senate approves drug testing for welfare

RALEIGH, N.C. — The N.C. Senate approved a bill Wednesday that would require people applying for public assistance to pass a drug test and would require local Department of Social Service offices to conduct criminal background checks on applicants, according to WRAL.
The drug test requirement calls for applicants to pay for the test and bans anyone with a positive test from receiving benefits for a year, unless they can show they have completed a substance abuse treatment program and can pass a subsequent test.
Under current law, DSS offices may ask someone if they’re a fugitive or conduct a criminal background check, but they are not allowed to share that information with local sheriffs or other law enforcement agencies.
According to WRAL, the House version of the bill called for social service workers to call law enforcement if someone applying for Food and Nutrition Assistance, what many people call food stamps, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which are cash payments, is found to have an outstanding warrant. The Senate version says the Social Services Commission will draft rules for what information will be shared with law enforcement.
Senators voted 43-6 in favor of House Bill 392, which will now head back to the House for a final vote on changes to the measure.
http://myfox8.com/2013/07/10/nc-sena...g-for-welfare/

[Dayze]

good

[Pawnmower]

good...

its about time and I hope all states follow

[Loneiguana]

Ugh, again.

Ruled unconstitutional by courts in other states.
Welfare is not justification for a search and seizure without evidence.

Does not save money.

Only a small fraction of people failed.

There is no evidence that people on welfare abuse drugs in large numbers.

[LiveSteam]

Originally Posted by Loneiguana

Ugh, again.


There is no evidence that people on welfare abuse drugs in large numbers.

[R8RFAN]

Originally Posted by Loneiguana

Ugh, again.

Ruled unconstitutional by courts in other states.
Welfare is not justification for a search and seizure without evidence.

Does not save money.

Only a small fraction of people failed.

There is no evidence that people on welfare abuse drugs in large numbers.

The drug test requirement calls for applicants to pay for the test

[Brock]

They'll just switch over to alcohol.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Loneiguana

Ugh, again.

Ruled unconstitutional by courts in other states.
Welfare is not justification for a search and seizure without evidence.

Does not save money.

Only a small fraction of people failed.

There is no evidence that people on welfare abuse drugs in large numbers.

THIS!

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Loneiguana

Does not save money.

I fail to see how that could POSSIBLY be true, the only problem i see is that people doing the hard stuff like crack and meth only need three days to get it out of their system, seems like it might be pretty easy to beat the system.

But its atleast a start in the right direction... want assistance? prove your not spending what little money you do have on drugs.

[Earthling]

I am wondering how that might, in the future, affect states where pot has been legalized? Especially since it can be detected weeks afterwards..Seems unlikely to do much and is opening a can of worms IMO...

[LiveSteam]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

THIS!

Finally BRC says something that is not a Greta Van Susteren quote

[RNR]

Originally Posted by Earthling

I am wondering how that might, in the future, affect states where pot has been legalized? Especially since it can be detected weeks afterwards..Seems unlikely to do much and is opening a can of worms IMO...

If pot is legal in a state and they choose to test for drugs then I would assume pot would not be on the list of drugs prohibited~

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by scott free

I fail to see how that could POSSIBLY be true, the only problem i see is that people doing the hard stuff like crack and meth only need three days to get it out of their system, seems like it might be pretty easy to beat the system.

But its atleast a start in the right direction... want assistance? prove your not spending what little money you do have on drugs.

The only problem is that they can spend it on alcohol. We cant become the nannies. We are not their parents.

What needs to happen is they don't get their act together, make some positive changes in their life's, take some classes/training.....then we put a limit on how much government assistance they can get in a year and or in a lifetime. Its a hand up not a hand out. If you are not trying to get off the tax payer dime, then you can be a slacker on the charity dime.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

The only problem is that they can spend it on alcohol. We cant become the nannies. We are not their parents.

What needs to happen is they don't get their act together, make some positive changes in their life's, take some classes/training.....then we put a limit on how much government assistance they can get in a year and or in a lifetime. Its a hand up not a hand out. If you are not trying to get off the tax payer dime, then you can be a slacker on the charity dime.

I agree that its a new and strange slope to climb down, but whats the endgame? at some point, this country has to stem this tide of free money with NO strings attached.

Clinton tried to do something... work programs or whatever, but inevitably, people learned to ride it out and get the dole they needed without participating, it just seems like without a very stringent, hard to cheat system, we're just going to keep spiraling into the very nanny state that you mention which really NO ONE, on either side wants.

I'm no prig, i've done everything but needles and meth at one time or the other... but when i hit bottom, i positively knew that the only thing that would truly save me was to straighten the hell up and join the real world... not count on the government to keep me at a bare minimum of living, i just always have to wonder where some peoples pride is.

It just seems like theres a HUGE percentage of our population who couldnt care less, they'll scrape by on whatever they can get, no matter their circumstances.

The flipside is all of the *ed-banking/corporate hoodlums raping our country, they need their own vicious kick in the ass... but thats another thread for another time.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Of the 4,086 applicants who scheduled drug tests while the law was enforced, 108 people, or 2.6 percent, failed, most often testing positive for marijuana. About 40 people scheduled tests but canceled them, according to the Department of Children and Families, which oversees Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, known as the TANF program.

The numbers, confirming previous estimates, show that taxpayers spent $118,140 to reimburse people for drug test costs, at an average of $35 per screening.

The state’s net loss? $45,780.

"That’s not counting attorneys and court fees and the thousands of hours of staff time it took to implement this policy," Newton said.
The law also didn’t impact the number of people who applied for benefits.

The findings don’t ruffle supporters of the law, who say that its primary purpose is to make sure taxpayer money doesn’t supplement drug use.


http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/2...ests-cost.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/2...#storylink=cpy