Drug testing welfare recipients: Discuss

[Mystical]

In my eyes Utah just concretely proved how many children in their districts will be going hungry tonight. Sad. Maybe a few of those parents will re-evaluate their lives (the article says four actually sought treatment out of 477). Maybe they'll realize their addictions are keeping their children impoverished. But I doubt it, based on human nature thus far observed: they'll do more drugs, and find other (not so legal) ways to bring in income. And they'll still conclude that their kids are better off with them living in destitution than foster care, which would be pretty accurate up until the point that they can't feed their own children. Now it'll be 800/mo paid to strangers to take care of the kids (if they're lucky and aren't thrown in a community style living), plus food stamps. Makes total sense, really. Maybe if the families were actually Told that they can receive benefits and undergo treatment they'd be more open and less frightened (read the entire news article). But I doubt it. In all honesty Alcoholism is not illegal. The fact that the government is making it an offense worthy of taking someone's Rights to social security services away is quite ridiculous considering that same government gets taxes on the alcohol consumption by those same people. Utah in and of itself has so many illegal families receiving food stamps it's retarded (specifically Mormon polyamoury relationships). All I see is the already downtrodden getting even more downtrodden here. It's not illegal to drink alcohol (or smoke weed in some states. You're advocating perfectly legal activitied citizens being tested for illegal offenses in exchange for their citizen-given right to social security aid. Granted, I don't think cash should be given out. Only food stamps, only utilities aid or gas stipends. But in all reality all this is going to do is equate to empty childrens stomachs and stress out even more alcoholic drug using parents. I'd be totally in support of this plan of action if alcohol was illegal, or if food banks received that amount of money to support those families' survivals. As it is, they spent 30k to prove 4 people are users and to scare off another 270 some odd families without any drug treatment or alcohol treatment resolution whatsoever. You're right. Yay.

(to my cousin who thought she'd rub in her pro drug testing stance to me who posted that meme above on my FB)