Kentucky just passed the best law ever!

[welsummerchicks]

So.....someone should be free to not wear a helmet to ride a motorcycle or horse, and get injured, and then get health care for the rest of their life that they can't afford and costs the state from 150,000 dollars to 2 million dollars a year, but someone who gets a couple thousand dollars a year worth of welfare can't do drugs....

I think it's kind of hypocritical to rejoice at this law, frankly. I understand that it will be extremely popular because of stereotypes about who gets welfare. I also understand that any law that restricts someone's OWN freedoms, would be greeted with the usual:

'Oh this is going to bankrupt the state, this is so much red tape, this is a slippery slope and pretty soon Big Brother will be telling me I can't have a beer, or that I have to have a barcode in my skull, that is so unfair to take away my freedom to decide, not that I want to do drugs but I have the right to decide, the drugs I want to use are harmless, they can't possibly adminster such a law fairly, how will they do it without corruption and errors, people will cheat the test by bringing in apple juice, the test isn't reliable etc etc etc etc', but the logic here is:

If it's 'something self destructive I want to do, I need the freedom to do it, if it's something self destructive someone else wants to do, they need to stop'.

I understand the entrenched belief that 'all those welfare cheaters are on drugs' as well as the other unspoken implication of who is on welfare, and the don't give 'em welfare if they're on drugs', too, but I also don't think that they really are. The average welfare recipient is male, married, twenty eight, white, and has 2 children in marriage.

 

[Royd]

Quote:
I agree. They need a Food Stamp warehouse...You don't spend money. You get food... Dried beans, rice, flour, sugar, salt, basic dairy and meat, onions, various spices, and canned vegetables, and home commodities.

ETA: You get an apportionment, according to the number of dependent people, according to the census, which reside in the house.

 

[welsummerchicks]

What you can buy with food stamps is regulated in many states.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

I only got up to pg 8 in the reading but...

First I don't think that the drug tests will be weekly or monthly more like once a year so the ones who smake a joint once or twice socially will be unlikely to get caught. IMO pot should be legalized. And yes I DO use it once in a while. I don't have health insurance and if I get a massive migraine. Illegal? Yes but is sure as heck costs a lot less than an emergency visit, Dr. Fee and all that other crap. $5 vs. $978. I am back in school and don't have a job. The vet I was working for went bankrupt. I lost my medicaid and foodstamps because we make $300 more than the poverty level. They don't take into account bills like internet (which I have to have for class. Sorry not driving 35 miles to the nearest library to use the computer. Gas costs to much), auto insurance, and other necessary bills. However other than medical you CAN still feed your family. I do it and many many other do it. You go to food banks. We hit 3 food banks a month for my terminal aunt. She is 77 and between the cancers and age she has to eat a lot just to try to keep her weight at 113 when she should be at 125-130.

I agree with this bill. However I do NOT agree with taking the childrens medical benefits away. The parents can't scam that. The child has to be taken in to use it.

Yes the drug tests will throw false positives and their is an appeals process for FS and Medicaid. Yes medications rx/otc can throw the test off but that is why they ask if you are taking meds.

 

[chickendude]

Welsummerchicks- where did you get these statistics from.
"The average welfare recipient is male, married, twenty eight, white, and has 2 children in marriage."
They seem false compared to what I have experienced in my lifetime.

 

[Royd]

Quote:
Allow me to channel Redhen:
Hey! As long as it gets *someone*! Even if it is someone innocent... After all, we have to do something. Think of the children!

Allow me to channel Anna: Sure wish i had a joint right now... Oooh..is that a cookie??

Oh, look, a poppy seed bagel.

 

[Royd]

Annaraven, You are so hung up on this drug test thing, methinks, you tip your hand, just a little too much.

 

[Royd]

Quote:
Which 3 do you think? Coke, pot, opiates?

Amoxicillin[antibiotic], Advil, and Dextromathorphan[cough syrup]?
ETA: description of OTC drugs that test positive for coke, pot and opiates.

If you are that sick, you probably shouldn't be looking for a job, anyway.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

Just a thought... maybe they need to add to the bill (have not read it yet) that if tested pos the person immediately starts rehab and they keep the benefits. That would kill two birds with one stone. It would lessen the number of criminals and they would be given a chance to get healthier and keep their assitance. In the end it would cost less to clean them up than keep them in jail.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

I think it is great and the way I look at it is: I am subject to a drug test at any time in order to keep my job, why shouldn't they be subject to the same thing? WE are the ones working our butts off to support our families and theirs, but they aren't subject to the same rules. Why? There is no reason for it.