By: Dr. Samori Swygert
WARNING- Behind the curtains and beneath the veneer of drug testing welfare recipients lies a deeper ulterior motive. Many people are either ignoring, or plain unaware of a revenue generating scheme conjured by corporate America. Capitalists will make Windfall profits from the passage of Drug Testing legislation being ushered in. This will have a direct impact on you and your family.
Addressing the stigma and myths of public assistance
Drug testing welfare applicants, is the tip of the Iceberg. Corporate influence on politicians is disguising a scheme under the hypothesis and belief that most welfare seeking applicants abuse drugs and are “milking” the system. This creates a loathing notion of resentment among non-welfare, tax paying citizens.
Many times you’ll hear people say something like: “they’re getting over on me” or “their using the system to get paid”, or “these people are just lazy and don’t want to work”. Politicians mention “the welfare queen” in political discourse.
This is true for some recipients, but that isn’t representative of the whole. Many people receiving public assistance want to work. However, the job market lacks the vacancies to accommodate each citizen. Jobs have become highly specialized, outsourced, and in many cases, obsolete because technology has replaced human labor.
Understanding the game
We’re missing the undercurrent in the rise of a stealth and wealth industry. Legislation is being crafted that calls for the drug testing of the long-term unemployed, welfare recipients, food stamp recipients, school students, and increased testing of the American labor force.
I’m not spewing rhetoric. Why did the Carlyle Group spend $4.15 Billion to purchase Johnson & Johnson’s testing division last week? Click Here to Read
The Johnson & Johnson’s testing profile (the first column) includes a myriad of tests including Marijuana, Ecstasy, Amphetamines, Barbiturates, Cocaine, PCP, Methadone, Oxycodone, and Benzodiazepines. Click Here
Private Equity firms only conduct purchases off thoroughly researched data. Their return on investment must be essentially guaranteed. The same way they speculate on markets, they are quietly and unofficially speculating on the passage of future legislation that mandates drug testing millions of citizens to generate exponential profits as a prerequisite for government assistance.
Always ask, “Why” and “how”. We must thoroughly read legislation from front to back using critical thinking.
Examining Exhibit -A
Isabel Macdonald wrote an in-depth article in the Nation Magazine April 2013 entitled, The GOP’s Drug Testing Dragnet. She methodically deconstructed and illuminated the lobbyists, hidden funding of congressmen, drug testing industry titans, and their strategies to generate income. It’s imperative that you as the reader research DATIA (Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association). Examine their ties with ALEC and the laws that are being implemented. For example, Rick Scott (R-Florida congressman) wanted to test welfare recipients, but his wife owned a chain of drug testing clinics in Florida….hmmm, conflict of interest. The article is deep, you can read the original here, and the ACLU’s statement below it:
1) http://www.thenation.com/article/173654/gops-drug-testing-dragnet#
2) https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-racial-justice/drug-testing-dragnet-widens-poor-continue-be-swept
Let’s do some math, get out your pencils and paper
You must ask, “How much does each drug test cost?”, and then multiply that toward each demographic that’s targeted for testing.
For example, if a drug test costs $50 and 46,700,000 Americans are on food stamps, then you just multiply for the revenue generated. The answer to the preceding example is $2.33 Billion generated from mandatory drug testing of just food stamp applicants.
Projection, Extrapolation, and Speculation
This goes deeper, because when recipients fail a drug test, many state bills require recipients to enroll in a SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT PROGRAM (not free). Enrollees must be retested (cha-ching$), and at the completion you must be retested (cha-ching$), and then you must still be retested again by the state for your benefits (cha-ching$).
Now apply that $50 arithmetic to the number of applicants for welfare, long-term unemployment insurance. Many states want to drug test students from junior high to high school. The aim is to deter drug use, and provide intervention and treatment for students. How many millions of children are enrolled in junior high to high school across America? Whatever that number is, multiply that by a $50 drug test. Please read what the National Institute on Drug Abuse says about students here http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/drug-testing/faq-drug-testing-in-schools
Don’t forget immigration. Don’t forget the scrutiny and review of the millions of immigrants that the country must conduct to grant citizenship to. It’s only logical that they’ll want to grant citizenship to drug free immigrants right? Well multiply a $50 drug test per immigrant.
Random police checkpoints for alcohol and drugs are popping up all across the country now. Well those drug tests aren’t free. Read this article from Breaking Brown
The battle for the legalization of weed is underway, right? Legalization of marijuana is a hot topic. However, legalization of marijuana will create reason for testing in DRUG FREE WORK ENVIRONMENTS. Do you want your neurosurgeon high on weed??
The failing American economy only supports a chronic cycle (no pun intended) of unemployment, welfare, long-term unemployment insurance, and food stamp demand. Consequently, this fuels constant drug testing every month that disbursement of funds is allocated for food stamps, welfare, and unemployment insurance. Don’t forget that individuals will have to retest several times.
According to the National Institute on Drug abuse, there are several means and reasons to test: pre-employment testing, random testing, reasonable suspicion/cause testing, post-accident testing, return to duty testing, and follow up testing.
These motives appear noble in scope, but the true intention behind the law is questionable, and raises ethical concerns on profiteering via mandated legislative policy. Does abuse occur in the public assistance program? Yes, but won’t lawmakers and corporate America be equally exploitive via this practice? I don’t have the answers, but READ the links I posted front to back just like I did before rushing to comment.
Here is a Youtube link with Isabel Macdonald
Lastly, Trey Radel should’ve been drug tested and ousted from congress for cocaine purchases.
Article also available at: http://www.kulturekritic.com/2014/01/news/dr-samori-swygert-clandestine-plan-behind-drug-testing-welfare-recipients/
