The unemployment extension bill which has been under much debate, now has a purposed drug testing amendment coming from Senator Orrin Hatch, according to CBS News. Drug testing the recipients of unemployment compensation will only benefit the pharmaceutical companies supplying the materials to do these drug tests. They will get rich off of another foolish program put in place by the government.
The small majority of people who may be doing these drugs will find ways around the drug testing making this multi million dollar safeguard a waste of tax payers money. This money will be better spent helping the unemployed families out by way of an unemployment extension.
The Washington Post published an exclusive story last year regarding the possible affiliation that Senator Hatch has with the drug companies. “The pharmaceutical industry that long has benefited from Sen. Orrin G. Hatch’s legislative efforts has directed large sums of money to a charity he helped found — and still raises money for — while also hiring the Republican lawmaker’s son as a lobbyist.” Is the what the Washington Post reported.
The drug testing component of the new purposed bill for unemployment can be worth millions to a company supplying these materials to do the actual testing. This may not have entered the Senator’s mind when he purposed the bill, he may just want to stop drug users and nothing more. He may not have gone as far as to even considered the cost of this new proposal. The drug testing will be a complete waste of the taxpayer’s money.
First of all the unemployment extension bill will go to people who have worked and paid into this system regardless if they are doing drugs or not. There may be a small group of people that will spend their unemployment on drugs, but so be it. These will be the same people that spent their paychecks on drugs. Making the entire population of the unemployed do embarrassing drug testing to stop drug abuse is ludicrous.
If Senator Hatch is truly out to “stop the drug abuse” among American’s, fund a program for that. Do not just assume that the unemployment extension can be used as a fishing net for drug users. This is not the American way!
Senator Hatch’s purposed amendment to the bill for unemployment extension is demeaning to the hard working people who have paid into the unemployment compensation with their taxes for years. Now that they are out of work through no fault of their own, they need to succumb to a degrading and embarrassing drug test to receive a check?
This purposed amendment of Senator Hatch’s is putting a stigma on the hard working American’s out of work. It blankets them all under the term “drug abusers”. As with any public assistance program, there will be people who take advantage and buy drugs with the money they receive. These are the same small group of people that will find ways around this test, such as using someone else to provide a clean urine specimen for their test, making the testing worth nothing.
Drug testing is an insult to people unless they are in a program mandated by the law because of criminal activity with drugs. The only benefit that will come out of this drug testing is that the drug companies making and selling these tests to the government will become wealthier. This would be the one and only benefit to this unemployment extension amendment. I am sure this is not what Senator Hatch intended when he purposed the drug testing.
References: Washington Post, CBS News
