New Tennessee Drug Test Law For Welfare Recipients Goes Into Effect – Catches One.

A new law that mandates all state welfare recipients be drug screened just went into effect. After one month, one user of illegal drugs has been caught. One.

Republican state Senator Stacey Campfield lost his primary election last night. The freshman, one-term senator best-known for sponsoring the failed “Don’t Say Gay” bill will leave the citizens of Tennessee with another, small, legacy: drug screening of all new state welfare recipients. To date, one month into the program, results can already be seen.

“Four people were turned down because they refused to participate in any part of the drug screening process,” the Tennessean reports. “Six other people willingly submitted to a drug test, and one tested positive.”

812 people in total applied. 808 were screened. The process includes an initial written questionnaire. Those who “fail” the three question test must submit to a physical drug test — presumably by providing urine — or give up any welfare benefits. 

Statistically, one out of 812 is a 0.00123152709 percent rate of “capture,” so to speak. And that is assuming the testing was accurate and did not deliver a false positive. Applying those results mathematically to 12 months, Tennessee might encounter 12 people who tested positive for illegal drug use.

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, said the law is unconstitutional and the group intends to challenge it in court.

“We don’t test individuals who are seeking government support like farmers, veterans and students, so we have to take a step back and question why limited-income people are being targeted and have to submit to these intrusive searches,” Weinberg said.

The cost of the implementation is unknown. The physical drug tests cost $20-$35 each, which the state pays. Untold thousands of dollars to embarrass and demean thousands of Tennessee citizens in need of help with basics, like food, clothing, and shelter.

Think Progress last month noted that generally, these types of drug testing programs “come with a hefty price, despite the fact that lawmakers often defend them as saving money on welfare benefits.”

Utah spent more than $30,000 to catch those 12 users. Virginia lawmakers rejected a similar proposal after realizing it would cost $1.5 million to operate while saving just $229,000. Any savings from Florida’s program will be negligible after administrative costs and reimbursing the people who took $30 tests. 

 

Image by Steven Depolo via Flickr