Florida Welfare

I'm gonna have to say this seems like a good idea.

While I would like to see all drugs legal, the fact is if you require aid from the government, no recreational drugs for you.

Kind of what a few others have said previously.

Also since the applicant is paying for the test and is only reimbursed after they pass, the cost is minimal to the state. Private drugs tests are cheap if you get the basic ones. I want to say they cost around $35, but I'd have to research that.

Depending on how sophisticated the government wants to make its testing procedures, they will be able to "catch" whoever they want to "catch". Yes, there are ways to mask the residues of certain drugs in the urine. However, none of them are fool-proof, and let's face it, a lot of drug addicts are fools.

If a urine test comes back as suspect, even if it isn't a glaring positive test, that could prompt the government to issue blood and/or hair strand tests. Those are much, much harder to deceive.

I'm talking about through a clinic btw, not home tests.

The only downside I see to this is that if you request and schedule your own drug test and fail, the results are kept private. That means you could just keep testing again until you pass.

I personally wish Illinois would do this.

Correct, nothing is fool proof. But there are some pretty reliable ways to pass. I'm not even saying not to do the tests, TBH, I don't really care one way or another, if someone wants to pass a drug test, they will.. It's not difficult, especially if you know within like a 24 hour window when it's going to be.. This isn't going to keep 'addicts' (people really use that term too loosely) from being on Welfare. It might weed out a handful of the really careless/dumb ones, but that's about it.

I'm willing to bet a good portion of these 'addicts' already have practice passing their PO's piss tests..

BTW, those most likely to get caught by a piss test, probably aren't even addicts.. People who smoke weed are the most likely to be caught, and it's pretty hard to be an addict to weed.. There is no addictive physical property in weed, those who are 'addicted' have addictive personalities and the addiction is psychological..

Most of the hard drugs/alcohol are out of your system in 2 weeks or less, even sooner if they aren't a heavy user.

Umm... I used to reside in FL (Miami) and they only issue "food stamps" through a EBT card. So I do not know how someone could use that money to purchase drugs considering the only places you can use the card is in supermarkets that accept EBT cards.. I don't think they should issue drug tests if you are a family in need. What if you cannot afford them and are just barely getting enough food on the table for your family? Scott is an *** who makes crappy decisions. >.> Instead of issuing drug tests maybe they should screen what people purchase through their EBT cards instead.

It's quite easy.. You find someone with cash that needs food, you take them to the store, they pick out their food, you pay for it on the card, they give you the cash.. One of my old friend's moms used to do that.

Sooooo... Food stamps aren't actual stamps? lol

Not anymore, that I know of.. They're almost always on a credit-like card. Every month it sets a certain balance, when you buy your food with the card it's deducted.

No, that died out years ago. It's like a debit card (Called an EBT card)that the government fills up every week/month(Depending on your income) and then you have to go to a supermarket that accepts the EBT.

I always imagined them to look like over sized postage stamps.

Most drugs are reliably detectable in hair for up to 90 days. I do not know whether or not Florida intends to incorporate hair testing or not. But it's available, and if they want to catch the users, they can catch them. It's all a matter of how much money they want to spend to clean up the Welfare program.

That is honestly HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE. I don't think they should punish everyone because of certain people abusing the system. Not everyone who is applying for welfare can afford a drug test. (Even if they get reimbursed, it might deter them from applying because they might be put in a position where they have to decide whether to buy the little food they can for their kids, or use the money to buy the drug test).

To be honest, FL has enough problems with their budget (Low taxes, sketchy spending..) that this will only further the problem.I would like to see where they are going to pull all these funds from, considering they already butchered FL's education due to 'budget' deficits. Rick Scott needs to resign tbh, he just seems to be making matters worse. >_>

Hair/blood tests are generally not used, I'm not sure if it's because they require extra training, or if it's more expensive.. It's about 70-80% UA and another 10% or so saliva. Saliva is no better for detecting drugs passed certain points than a UA is.

Even probation offices almost always use UAs, if PO's in general aren't worried about running hair/blood, I really doubt Welfare will.

The part where you assert that anyone who doesn't agree with your position just doesn't want fewer drug users.


You really think that's how it's done? You think that the gov't will have time to watch everyone on welfare take a piss?

Yeah, except I did not assert that.


Actually, I know that's how it's done, and yes, if the Florida government is going to support and stand behind this new testing legislation, then they will use high-security professional laboratory procedures to ensure it's effectiveness.

or 7-11...

wish it was supermarket only...

even if you like the idea please realize if you support a corrupt person's version of it there's no way in hell you're going to get a useful, functional, cost-effective or fair version of it in practice.

florida still our nation's leader in doctor shopping and pharmaceutical abuse?

wonder how rick fits in there....

This will def. see ppl who really need the help, not abuse the money to go toward drugs, rather in where it should be gone, toward actual rent and groceries.

What do you call this?



The hell they will. They'll use underpaid and overworked staff members who really couldn't give two shits about whether someone passes or fails. Or does Florida exist in some sort of parallel world where everything the government does is "high-security" and "professional"?

It's not hard to stay clean for 30-45 days prior to applying for these benefits. Who's to say they just start back up after they get approval. Weed being the only "drug" that stays in your system for 30-45 days depending on frequency, they'll be approving the people who are the real drain (coke, heroin, meth, etc. etc.). These more hardcore drugs only stay in the system half the time... Tho they will be rejecting the people who have no control and can't stop period.

I honestly don't know what to think about this...

Almost even inhuman!

You obviously have never seen hardcore addicts (which this is targeting) have you?

They can't go more then probably a day or two before needing a fix before they go crazy.

You know what else you aren't allowed to do in florida?
You aren't allowed to have sex with other animals, even homo sapiens!

Hardcore drugs usually can be cleared out of the system in a non user within 3 days, a regular user would be about a week, and then an addicted individual is anything beyond that really.

I just find this kind of legislation to be wholly and dehumanizing.
We vilify individuals who we don't actually identify, complaints of a scourge that has no name.
And when we give it a name and a face then we can't hate it all the same.
I think we need to stop addressing symptoms and nameless faces and actually start addressing the larger problem, which is the unemployment rate