Pubdate: Sun, 12 Oct 2014
Source: Post-Crescent, The (Appleton,  WI)
Copyright: 2014 The Post-Crescent
Contact:  http://www.postcrescent.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1443
Author: Philicia Robles

DRUG TEST FOR BENEFITS IMMORAL

New Law Would Only Make People More Desperate, Leading to More Crime

If re-elected Gov. Scott Walker will push for legislation requiring
mandatory drug testing for unemployment and SNAP benefits.

It's a cognitive dissonance at best and a willful evil at worst to
attempt to force social responsibility and morality through a socially
irresponsible and immoral tactic.

This wholesale denial of benefits to people belies the complexities
inherent in drug use and addiction, ranging from socioeconomic and
environmental factors to issues of mental health and genetic
propensity for addictive tendencies -- notwithstanding that those who
receive unemployment benefits do so because they have paid into that
system, as any other employed person has.

Legislation along these same lines has been implemented in several
states with dismal failure, where only a handful of people failed
screening, costing far more to implement than was recouped. Most
notably, in Florida, after a costly legal battle, a federal appeals
court ruled it a violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution
regarding illegal search and seizure without probable cause.

In reality, the few who would lose benefits today would still be
hungry tomorrow. Desperate people will resolve to desperate measures
when life-or-death survival is at stake. We could expect to see an
increase in everything from shoplifting and armed robbery to
prostitution and drug dealing as they seem more viable options over
starvation and death.

Increased crime and rates of incarceration would leave more families
and children in need of services. What good is a solution to a problem
if it creates two or three more problems?

If we truly wish to eliminate drug addiction, we need to focus on its
true causes and provide better avenues for education and
rehabilitation.

Philicia Robles,

Appleton
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MAP posted-by: Richard