Pubdate: Sun, 20 May 2012
Source: Newark Advocate, The (OH)
Copyright: 2012 The Advocate
Contact: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2634

DRUG TESTING SHOULD BE ABOUT HELPING, NOT PUNISHING

Few would argue Ohioans want their tax dollars being used by welfare
recipients to buy illegal drugs.

Nor would anyone want that person's children going to bed hungry
because the state had denied payments based on a positive drug test.

As we all know, the world is far from perfect.

That's why the controversial proposal to require drug testing for
welfare recipients by highly conservative state Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-
Lancaster, provokes such strong emotions.

Schaffer's original 2011 bill called for outright testing with no cash
payments to anyone who was using drugs.

A watered down version briefly inserted in a state budget bill this
past week required applicants to declare whether they ever had taken
illegal drugs with testing required only for people who answer
affirmatively. Gov. John Kasich wisely asked lawmakers to slow down
and consider the issue as its own bill.

Additional changes also allow for secondary payees to receive funds to
care for children in the case of a positive test, plus funding for
counseling the drug user.

Those are positive steps.

If Schaffer's goal is to help reduce drug use and people truly improve
their lives by providing real addiction treatment options, then this
bill has merit. If he's just trying to delight his conservative base,
as it seemed a year ago, that's another matter.

As this newspaper has illustrated in rich detail on many occasions,
Ohio has a serious drug problem just like most states. We remain
deeply concerned about the epidemic of opiate abuse and resulting
deaths, especially in southern Ohio. These addictions also fuel crime
and make us all feel a bit less safe.

So, it makes perfect sense to help people down on their luck for any
reason and fighting addiction.

If Ohio can design and operate a drug testing program with more
compassion than punishment and help people improve every aspect of
their lives, we're on board.

But that will take a real commitment of time and tax money, probably
much more than is being spent by welfare recipients buying drugs.

To us, it's a fight worth fighting.
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