Maine Governor: Let’s Drug Test Welfare Recipients!

It is not

And for some reason I don't see a lot of people who are on welfare because they lost employment due to a disease passing said drug tests on the pain handling medications that most doctors prescribe...

Probably not, relevance??????

We see people all the time in the emergency room who are drug seekers. The docs or PA's won't give them any more. We had one doc tell a patient that since she had been there 36times in the past 12 months for drugs the doc was not going to give her any more. The doc then told the patient that she had also sent home the ambulance that the patient had called to transport her at taxpayers expense. Said the patient would have to find her own way home. Needless to say the doc is our hero. Come ride the ambulance with me for a while. The dose of reality will be an eye opener.

Not sure what you mean.

Yes, we do see people all the time in the ER who are drug seekers.

I'm talking about people who work a low paying job and then get a disease like cancer, do not have health coverage from said job, but are paid too much to qualify for government aid. Then they quit their job to qualify for government aid, and receive government aid (welfare as well as medicare because now they are unemployed). Most of those pain meds that they would be taking will show up on a drug test.

Also, you're not the only person with fun drug related ER stories. In Grants Pass there was a druggie who came into the ER about 20 years or so ago. He claimed that he swallowed a butter knife. The ER staff thought he was full of shit until they finally put him under the X-ray, and sure enough, there was a butter knife. When the druggie was asked how it got in there he told the staff that he was eating a burrito and got a piece stuck in his throat. He tried to pry the piece out with the butter knife and... oops, down it went. No, nobody bought the story. The knife still needed to come out, so the ER contacted a specialist to remove the knife. The specialist came, the druggie was given his drugs (which made him very happy), and the butter knife was pulled out through the guys throat. There were no remnants of food.

A couple of weeks later the guy showed up at the other hospital's ER and pulled the same shtick. The ER's had not communicated the incident, so the second ER went through the same motions. Unfortunately for the druggie, the same specialist came in, and it was in the middle of the night. They pulled the knife out of the druggie without the drugs.

Over the next few months the guy showed up with random things in his stomach. Change, spoons, forks, he even managed a small steak knife. The ER's got to the point where they stopped asking him what was wrong and just put him under the X-ray to see what it was. On the last day the guy had a metal mass in his stomach that was the size of a fist. It baffled the hell out of the nurses and doctors until they figured out that the guy got ahold of, and swallowed a bit of Mercury. The guy was lucky in the sense that Mercury absorbs through just about everything but the lining of the stomach. He was unlucky in the sense that after his stomach was pumped, he was finally committed to an nut house.

They, the GOP., love gov. when it protects their ASSets.

They had no right to insist that you take any tests without explaining IN WRITING what they are looking for. Random drug tests included.

meh, my doctor asked, and i obliged (since i have nothing to hide). next time, i will decline.

GOP against Big Government my ass

There has to be a reason for the poor being poor other than the foot on their throat....completely out of touch with the reality of humanity's needs

Amendment IV

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

This includes their blood (or any other bodily fluid) for testing.

Tell that to the corporate owned SCOTUS who ruled that companies can test for and fire employees that smoke tobacco at home.

OK so who gets to decide if this is a reasonable search? If a person knows that to get this aid means that a drug test must be taken then it is not an unreasonable search, is it?

Personally I do not think people should have to submit to a drug test to receive government assistance but then again I do not think it is right for a person to take our tax dollars and support their drug habit.

Perhaps the solution could be that to get the assistance people must take a drug test. Anyone that tests positive for an illegal drug still gets the aid they need but they also get help to get off the drugs.

The biggest problem I see is that maybe the wife goes to get the assistance but the husband is on the drugs.

So, do you believe that someone say with cancer who lives in a state without medicinal marijuana laws who receives a small amount for Free from a friend who cares should loose their assistance and possibly loose it for their kids to? A Very slippery slope my friend.

My father died of cancer. I bought some marijuana from a friend of mine but my father refused to use it simply because it is against the law. I doubt that it would have saved his life but I am sure it would have made his final months less painful.

I am actually in favor of of legalizing drugs. I see no problem with a person using recreational drugs. I do see a problem with people that use them to the point that they cannot function in society so they need government assistance to keep their habit going. I do not think they should be punished but we have a responsibility to find them and help them. Drug testing is a way to find them. I also think it should include people that are getting their drugs from doctor drug dealers.

I guess the difference between the politicians that want to drug test and me is that they want to do it to punish people I would rather it be done to help people.

Like I said, "Slippery slope my friend."

You can Never have testing that would not be used to "Punish" by authorities and even the idea of testing the poorest of our nation in order for them to be able to have food IS Punishment. Also, Most people that smoke marijuana do so recreationally and do Not have an addiction because it is Not addictive and it is not at the level of a "problem" that needs treating, unless you think that anyone who smokes needs treatment, in that case you would just be Wrong.

With All drugs, if a person does have a problem then they can Not be successfully treated unless they Want treatment and we have FAR too few treatment centers Now that someone can go to for free and they are continually being de-funded and closed by the Republicans who always talk about getting treatment for people but do the Opposite of what is required for their position on the matter, go figure huh.

So, what I am saying is that Any form of drug testing in order to get Desperately needed assistance for the poorest of our people is “Punishment” for needing the assistance no matter how you look at it! Yes, there are those who do need help and the Florida program proved that it is only about 1% of those getting assistance testing positive and 90% of those were Only marijuana positives without any other illicit drugs present in their system making the number of users of drugs other than marijuana to be only one tenth of 1%. So, would you try to punish All of them including their children because someone smokes a joint at least once a month because that’s how long it stays in your system? Well? Would you?

By the way, I am a two time cancer survivor who does smoke occasionally but does NO other illicit drugs and testing me would just put me out in the streets to die with No food!

I wish you all of the best with your battle with cancer. My father showed me how difficult it is. Anyone that goes through it once is a tough son of a bitch. Anyone that goes through it twice, I have no words for how tough that might be.

As for your slippery slope, did I say any where that I think we need to pass this law? The answer, no. All I did was raise questions and throw out scenarios. Did you happen to pay attention to where I said drugs should be legalized or are you the type of person that reads part of a post and never understands the entire post? My posts need to be fully read as I like to put twists and turns in them to keep people thinking.

I believe in personal freedoms. Hell I started my church on that one principle. All I did was wonder if we should continue to ignore the lost souls that are on both government assistance and need our help to get off of drugs.

I have some bad news for you, there are a lot of people on drugs that want to stop but do not know how or do not think they can. Some of these people are on government assistance and this would actually be a way for our government to do some good for a change. Yes I will give the point to you that this is too easily abused and politicians would use it against the people. I can still wish for a perfect world, can't I?

Yes I read your entire posts and yes I saw all those things, but you also stated that you think that people should be tested and yes you said that they should still get assistance, but ALL of the proposed laws would Permanently Eliminate people from Any assistance if tested positive. Your idea is fine as proposed but regardless of your good intentions that is not the reality of the proposed legislations. I will continue my fight against ALL forms of intrusion in peoples’ personal lives. If someone smokes a joint at a party that is NOT a good enough reason to deny them Desperately needed assistance, which is what All the proposed legislations would do. Agreed? I talk only about current facts, not wishful thinking.

I will be right there with you fighting against legislation that would do harm to people that need assistance. If you read my very first post you could not have possibly thought that drug testing our elected officials was any more realistic than using drug testing to find those that need help.

For the record, I never said any of this legislation should be enacted. I said if it is then politicians need to be tested, I said perhaps we could use the testing to help not hurt people, I wondered if it is right to spend tax money on drugs. I guess I could have been clearer but then again you do not have to assume so much.

It is possible that you take these threads more seriously than I do. I see them as a way to test some of my ideas. I throw out a statement and get to read the responses from people such as yourself. This forces me to refine and strengthen my arguments or change my ideas. Either way I become better for it and some day I might just stumble upon a good idea.

You have some good ideas my friend, don't give up, just keep fighting, I know I will. Things need to change and the current law proposals are just flat out Wrong in soo many ways. I will continue to fight for our freedoms and I know you will to. ;-)

LOL I like that idea.

LMAO!

It would be cheaper to just use a ball-peened hammer and see if it generates an echo.

Trust me on this one he is nuts. And doesn't care if everybody knows. Short sighted boob. I have to go and do good things and get happy

Yes it did.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Thanks.

99 % bacon

And don't forget police.

Exactly! Feed at the Government teat, pee in a bottle.

Yes, yes and yes.

This is the same festering TURD that wanted to repeal child labor laws so kids could be put to work at reduced wages!

And the sad part is that he has Many Tea Party supported colleagues that also support that position because it would allow the mega-corps to make even more obscene profits on the backs of the working poor And the Children. To them it is ONLY about MONEY, nothing else matters.

Welcome to the Republican Ideal as sponsored by the Koch Bros. Child labor,low wages,no safety net,no healthcare or health regulations,no food inspections,and total fealty to the "Massa" while he sits on the veranda sippin` whiskey and smoking cigars!

Yep.

Good question.

I was thinking of writing a double chin comment, glad to see I am not alone. How about taking the food from all the fat cat politicians and giving it to the poor. (unfettered) Charming fellow he is.... (not)

Recall time!

We are trying....:(

You underestimate the capacity of the right wing for stupidity.

You might have a point!