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If you disagree with me, then you must be in favor of drug testing college students receiving financial aid from the government for the same reason you think welfare recipients should be tested, no?

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Brainiac said:
How about a test for fat ass.Most people who are on welfare, look like they never missed a meal.

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ToiletDuk said:
I'm against this. Tennessee already has an EBT (electronic benefit transfer) system in place for foodstamps. It works like a debit card, and about the only way to trade it for drugs is to get groceries and trade that for drugs, a cumbersome process, I'm sure.

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Cumbersome?  Doubt it.  There's so many crooked mom & pop sized store owners that will sell things like alcohol and cigarettes for food stamps.

Case in point:  corner store across the street from a friend's house.  They aren't set up to take food stamps at all because of the electronic system you mention.  Strange thing about this place, we stop there to pick up a few beers now and again.  Different kinds of beer on the shelf every time... totally hit and miss with the selection.  One day we're there, and we find out why.  There's your stereotypical "crack head" with a shopping cart full of cases of beer, haggling with the store clerk "$20 for the whole cart come on man..."  So, their beer supplier is apparently some guy off the street.  Hmm interesting.  We decide its in our best interest to shop at the convenience store a block away from now on.  Week later we're doing just that, and who do we see?  Our neighborhood crack head beer salesman.  He's in line there, paying for a shopping cart full of beer with - you guessed it - his food stamp debit card.  Looks like he's got a nice little business running thanks to not one but two different crooked clerks within a 2 block radius.  I'm sure the stuff goes on ALL the time.  This is just ONE example of ONE way to go about this.  For somebody who doesn't work and has nothing but time on their hands, you better believe if fueled by addiction they work out ways to feed it.

In general I'm anti drug testing on the grounds that its a privacy violation.  But I'm also realistic, and I'm FED UP with being punished for being a successful, hard working member of society.  The more I reach for and the harder I work, the more I pay in taxes to support these low lifes.  (Yes, there are certainly cases of welfare doing humanitarian work; helping those who can't help themselves... but you're blind if you don't think its abused to hell and back.  Even the people who "truly" need it, are probably not in a condition where they should be using drugs!  They shouldn't have objections to it!  They might even get more benefits if abuse was taken out of the picture.  Its win-win!)  I'm just so sick of the "entitlement" attitude people have.  There's no incentive in this country to go out and do what's right, instead there is punishment for it in the form of taxes and such... yet there is incentive to be a lazy ass!  Its ok, Uncle Sam will get the bill, you'll still get paid.

You know what?  That trumps any privacy concern any day.  Drug test these people REGULARLY.  This is the best idea I've heard in a VERY long time.  I garuntee the cost of the lab testing offsets the abuse of the system.  I garuntee if people start losing their benefits and have to fend for themselves, some will!  Some won't, and will further become a scourge on the rest of society, but any movement in the right direction is better than none. 

You know what else?  I had to take a drug test in order to gain the employment I have now.  I didn't agree with it.  I didn't like it.  I sucked it up and kept myself clean for an entire month though to pass their silly test, because I want to make an honest living.  After earning that, I feel it is OK morally to go back to my habits - they don't interfere with me being a contributing member to society.  This should apply to folks on unemployment compensation for starters - they make those people go through resume training, check up to be sure they're performing job searches and so on, this is a natural progression - they should be clean because when gainful employment does come knocking they might have to face the same test.  If they fail and that's the only thing holding them back, they shouldn't get another damn penny.  And not just unemployment, it should absolutely apply to foodstamp programs, health benefit programs, hell even section 9 housing, you name it.  There's good arguments for it in those situations as well.  I already pointed out an example for the food stamps that I'm sure is a regular occurance.  Anybody on health benefits absolutely should be clean too - why should we keep footing the bill for anybody who willfully does things that might be harming their health?  (Please, spare me the "marijuana does not harm your health" arguments, I know, and might even agree in other contexts.)

I'm so sick of people that feel they're being "held back" by society when they're the ones holding themselves back, expecting some kind of payout is entitled to them in return.  Hand-outs like that only make the weak even weaker.  Drug test the lot of them.  At least it might teach some form of discipline to some that have NONE.  It might also weed out those in need of rehibilitation; some day I hope this country will treat addiction as a health issue rather than a crime.  And recreational drug use - I feel should be allowed, for those who can afford it - recreation shouldn't be handed out it should be allowed AFTER you've done your responsible duty... we might as well start giving these people jet skis and golf lessons while we're at it!  Sound absurd?  Its not much of a stretch. 

Sure, privacy is a "right" but I feel if you're not contributing to our federal/state coffers in the form of taxes like the rest of us, you don't necessarily deserve all the same rights.  If I were in control I'd take it a step further and take the right to vote away from these folks too, not that there's really a high voter turnout in that demographic, but why even give them a chance to vote on "raises" for themselves... but that's another rant... I let enough steam off here already for ya'll.