Aasif Mandvi from The Daily Show goes to Florida to investigate their policy of forcing people to take drug tests in order to get welfare benefits. It is quite extraordinary the lengths these people will go to make people who are down on their luck feel like scum.
To get suggestions on how to view clips on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post. This clip appeared on February 2, 2012.
Barbara Ehrenreich, in her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, made a similar point. The drug tests required of many low-paying, menial jobs were mainly in force to denigrate the employees and force them to see themselves in a lowly position.
Best laugh I’ve had all day! Thanks for posting.
When I started working for Marriott, I had to take a drug test. I tested positive for heroin! The testing lab called me, and I explained to them that I’m in my 40s and weigh over 200 pounds; do I fit the stereotype of a heroin addict? Thankfully, they re-tested me at no charge (normally I would have been charged for the second test) and I was able to get the job. Also thankfully, I no longer work there.
Funny thing about drug tests is false positives are as common as crabgrass. The labs are overloaded and understaffed so proper care to do it right simply doesn’t exist. I’m wondering how many low income people will end up in prison just on the strength of false positives on these tests.
How does this even remotely square with the concept of “separation of private and working life” ?
And what happens if a person has recently visited a country where the substance they are being tested for is legal, and so broke no laws?
How long before the unemployed are banned from buying cigarettes, booze or “unhealthy” foods with their dole money?
This is happening in the United States. There is no such legal distinction here.
Again, there’s no such legal distinction. Also, I believe that from a US legal perspective, it’s illegal for citizens to partake of such substances, even if one is in a country where such activity is permitted by that nation’s laws.
It’s already done. Food stamps (or the modern equivalent thereof) can’t be used to buy cigarettes or liquor. There have been efforts to prohibit the use of food stamps for purchasing “unhealthy” foods such as soft drinks.
Also, food stamps (which are no longer actual coupons, but a debit card) can only be used for food: no toiletries, no medicine, etc.