Colorado welfare recipient drug testing bill advances

Ooooo... I like it... If they're going to throw up some extra barriers, let's see how well they like being hoisted on their own petard...

I would be very interested to know which members of the Colorado House and Senate oppose this bill on the basis that it would uncover their own recreational drug use. Come to think of it, if that is in fact the case it would go a long way towards explaining some of the legislation coming out of the state congress.

This is a good bill.

Anyone who works in government should be drug tested like many people who work for private companies....and that would include ALL public school teachers, congress, and the POTUS. These people work for us and should be held to the HIGHEST standards. Besides, it may be the only way to get bad teachers and politicians fired.

Is this Illinois or Colorado? Maybe the Colorado state congress is better at masking corruption.

Science Chic wrote: The cynical part of me just figures that the rich politicians with connections will have no problem cheating to pass the tests. We'd only catch the stupid druggies, and would it really be worth the cost and the extra hardship to the poor who aren't breaking the law and deserve the unemployment benefits without the wait?

There are some shrewd people who get away with embezzling so let's just do away with laws against theft because only the stupid thieves get caught.

Now that really makes sense, doesn't it?

Science Chic wrote: The cynical part of me just figures that the rich politicians with connections will have no problem cheating to pass the tests. We'd only catch the stupid druggies, and would it really be worth the cost and the extra hardship to the poor who aren't breaking the law and deserve the unemployment benefits without the wait?

We could have the rich politicians with connections take hair follicle tests instead of urine tests and make sure that the DNA of the hair matches the DNA of the politician - that should erect a fairly high barrier for the rich politicians to clear, and the rich politicians surely wouldn't mind paying for the more expensive tests regardless if they pass or fail, right? They are rich after all, they wouldn't even miss the money.

And yes, it would really be worth the cost. In addition to catching the stupid druggies, it will keep the smart ones from applying for benefits at all; one of the reasons that current programs like this show usage rates for those receiving public charity that are lower than the rates among the general population. How does that saying go again, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? If it is the delay that concerns you, that is addressed easily enough. They could start receiving the benefits immediately and if they fail the test, be prosecuted and jailed for attempting to defraud the public in addition to being required to pay back any monies already received as restitution.

The cynical me wonders if drug testing companies are behind this. Drug testing is very expensive, and a nice state wide contact for hundreds of thousands of people would make a lot of money.