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Drug Testing for Public Assistance

WakeandBake said:
The explosion of the opioid epidemic in America is happening in middle class suburbs, not welfare neighborhoods.
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"But unlike drug epidemics of the past, minority populations have seen a less dramatic increase in drug addiction and deaths compared to young white adults. The rate of heroin use among white adults increased by 114% between 2004 and 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate among nonwhite adults remained relatively unchanged during that same period."

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160227/MAGAZINE/302279871
 
ONW said:
"But unlike drug epidemics of the past, minority populations have seen a less dramatic increase in drug addiction and deaths compared to young white adults. The rate of heroin use among white adults increased by 114% between 2004 and 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate among nonwhite adults remained relatively unchanged during that same period."

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160227/MAGAZINE/302279871
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Do you think that there aren't any white people on public assistance?
 
jmhd - what do you propose happens to those who fail tests and do not receive aid? Negative reinforcement only works if there is some real penalty - but the penalty I see here for failing a drug test is not receiving necessary aid to avoid severe hunger, homelessness, basic medical care, etc. I do not believe that it is consistent with our shared values as a society for people to end up in those situations in the 21st century no matter the choices they have made, and putting people in extremely desperate situations leads to crime and other extremely anti-social behavior as well.

There has to be a basic safety net that you cannot be failed out of (i.e - an absolute floor) OR you have to be ok with people in our modern society dying of malnutrition, exposure, etc. Not everyone will make good choices, it's simply not possible for that to be the case.

How low are you willing to let a fellow citizen get? Homeless? Starving? Dying from easily treatable illness? That's the discussion we need to all have and agree on as an baseline of what we are willing to see happen to those who share a society with us. Once we agree on that bottom point for the most fucking up of fuck ups, then we can start talking about conditions required to move above that point.
 
So this thread really took off since I last looked...

Here's the rub, most of us here get tested and teased regularly. Public assistance comes out our taxes and it feels like fair play. Especially if you hate your job and wouldn't mind living off the government tit and do what you want (what most people think public assistance is like).

Ultimately I don't think the government should be regulating non-opiates. Tobacco has direct links to cancer and death and that is legal. Alcohol also has significant issues that can't be all that different than some drugs. It's a waist of time and money losing the war on drugs.
 
jhmd2000 said:
Do you think that there aren't any white people on public assistance?
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We need to move these people forward. Just wish there were folks as concerned about moving rural, white opiod addicts forward as they are urban brown people who smoke marijuana.
 
Coach O said:
We need to move these people forward. Just wish there were folks as concerned about moving rural, white opiod addicts forward as they are urban brown people who smoke marijuana.
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If I'm following your posts correctly, "forward" is imprisonment?
 
Coach O said:
We need to move these people forward. Just wish there were folks as concerned about moving rural, white opiod addicts forward as they are urban brown people who smoke marijuana.
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We have to stop this caricature. What if we cared about all of them? How can you fix and enable it with one gesture?
 
Deacfreak07 said:
If I'm following your posts correctly, "forward" is imprisonment?
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Just using jhmd's language. LOTS of conservatives very concerned with urban brown people smoking weed and having single parent households. Nothing from them about rural white folks destroying themselves with meth and oxy.

Just a pet peeve of mine.
 
jhmd2000 said:
We have to stop this caricature. What if we cared about all of them? How can you fix and enable it with one gesture?
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That would be fantastic if we could stop focusing on urban brown people. FANTASTIC.
 
People have an annoying tendency to want to live. If you take away their public assistance, I would expect a sharp increase in crime.
 
Demonwolverine said:
People have an annoying tendency to want to live. If you take away their public assistance, I would expect a sharp increase in crime.
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You can say the same for the other end of the income ladder as well.
 
One of the most misunderstood issues about homelessness is its relationship with substance abuse. There's no doubt that substance abuse can lead to homelessness, but homelessness can also lead to substance abuse. If you were forced to sleep outside under a bridge with rats and raccoons nibbling on you, the only way you can get any sleep is to get high or drunk. Asking a homeless person to give up the substances that get them to tomorrow is like asking someone who just got laid off to max out their 401(k). It's just not a priority.

In Charlotte, we have been providing housing to homeless people without strings attached. Once they are housed and safe, people often tend to begin to evaluate their next step - which is to get clean and get a job. But you can't ask someone to get clean first, and THEN we help them. So I'm a NO on this question.
 
DeacDiggler said:
In Charlotte, we have been providing housing to homeless people without strings attached. Once they are housed and safe, people often tend to begin to evaluate their next step - which is to get clean and get a job. But you can't ask someone to get clean first, and THEN we help them. So I'm a NO on this question.
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Great. How long until the NCGA makes housing the homeless illegal?
 
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