Utah Spent More Than $30,000 To Catch 12 Drug Users On Welfare

Last updated on: August 27, 2013 at 4:28 pm by Chris Henrichsen

Utah Spent More Than $30,000 To Catch 12 Drug Users On Welfare 2013-08-27T16:28:51-07:00 Chris Henrichsen

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Because demonizing the poor is so worth every penny.

From Bryce Covert at ThinkProgress:

Utah has spent more than $30,000 to drug test welfare applicants after it passed a new law last year. But in that time, just 12 people have tested positive for drug use, according to state figures.

Utah doesn’t randomly test applicants or require them to all undergo a drug test, but instead requires them to complete a written questionnaire that is meant to screen for drug abuse. Those who have a high probability are then given drug tests. The state spent nearly $6,000 on written tests for 4,730 applicants, 466 of which had to take a drug test, which cost more than $25,000. The law doesn’t disqualify those who test positive but instead requires them to go into a substance abuse treatment program.

Other states have turned up similar results. In Florida, just 2 percent of welfare recipients failed drug tests in 2011, compared to 8 percent of the state’s population who use illegal drugs. And while Gov. Rick Scott (R) had promised that the law would bring out savings, those will be almost negligible after administrative costs and reimbursing those who took the $30 tests. A federal appeals court rejected Florida’s law in February. In Virginia, a similar proposal failed when lawmakers determined that it would cost $1.5 million to administer and save just $229,000.

Of course, I am sure such tests and regulations are implemented purely out of concern for the poor.

Bazinga.

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