Ok here is my opinion, as someone who is on social assistance myself, I would not mind if addict was being helped too. Gimme said this, but there's nothing stopping people from buy alcohol so why this?
In the US, food stamps can't be used to buy lots of things, alcohol included. But then, in the US we are more draconian about assistance than many other places.
In the US, food stamps are basically a form of welfare where if you apply for it and are accepted (generally you have to be below a certain income relative to your family size to get them iirc), you'll be given a booklet of "stamps" that are each worth so much money. They're only usable to buy food and food-related items, as you might've guessed.I do not know what is a food stamp, here you are given money for live off of.
In the first case, I think those things are restricted in a lot of food stamp programs in the US, and I think that's how it should be. The tax money used for these programs comes from everyone; if you're taking everyone's money because you need assistance to survive, then I think you should be limited to using it on things you need to survive.My immediate reaction is "yes, absolutely". Then I think more on it and I realise two things
1. Nobody is stopping people on welfare from using that money on booze, cigarettes or legal weed in most places. Why should people with other addictions really be treated differently?
2. A lot of people on welfare have legitimate medical conditions liable to turn up false positives.
So I guess I'm not that sure in the end.
Maybe the numbers haven't changed much, but it's not just about the money. Welfare is supposed to be a tool used to help people survive and get back on their feet, not a permanent crutch to live off of. The end goal of most welfare programs is to encourage people to get back into the workforce and start living on their own again.Florida passed a mandatory drug test regulation to receive SNAP/HUD/medicaid a while ago, promising to save the state big money because so many undeserving people were abusing the program. But in reality, their numbers have changed marginally at best. It was all just talk from conservative politicians trying to get/keep themselves elected.
So, no. I don't think so. It ends up creating a bigger hassle for the state than it's worth, and makes poor people's lives harder than they have to be (and already are).
Maybe the numbers haven't changed much, but it's not just about the money. Welfare is supposed to be a tool used to help people survive and get back on their feet, not a permanent crutch to live off of. The end goal of most welfare programs is to encourage people to get back into the workforce and start living on their own again.
Living on welfare should be moderately painful; you should be restricted to using it only on the absolute essentials.
It's not intended to support peoples' lifestyles.
Now, should we maybe come up with better ways to get addicts help? Absolutely, and I think those kinds of programs are already a requirement for many welfare programs. But even if it's a wash money-wise, I think it's good that the money we're spending isn't going toward paying for peoples' drug habits.
And maybe it's about the same short-term, but I think in the long term, getting more people off of welfare programs and back into the workforce and helping them kick their addiction rather than feed it is going to cost us significantly less.
Most of what I'm saying is that the status quo is fine, but that I support screening as a measure to prevent abuse. As you said, the status quo already enforces most of what I think is the right way to handle things.snip
When I say it's not designed to "support their lifestyle," I mean it's not designed to allow them to buy unnecessary luxuries or indulge in costly vices.Actually that's exactly what it's designed to do. It supplements income for people below the poverty line.
I don't believe I ever suggested they shouldn't receive medical benefits, nor would I since I think they should (as long as those benefits are contingent on enrolling in a program to treat their addiction and working on getting a job).Secondly, I don't understand how not providing medical benefits would help a person suffering from addiction get off their addiction, nor do I understamd how we'd be feeding it by providing them medical benefits.
This upsets me because it ignores the opioid crisis in the US, most addicts have a script to what they're taking already. What good would a test do then? Everyone is so preoccupied with crack and heroin. Not to mention the way rehab programs and such at actually run. If you aren't already financially well off, you're just screwed.
Also people don't "live" on welfare. They get by. My mom gets $15 of food stamps a month, she's disabled and needs a cane to walk. She gets less then $800 a month to live on and is broke and miserable just like everyone else.
And yet, people abuse it.
I worked at a grocery store some time ago as loss prevention. The store was in a bad neighborhood and had been robbed at gunpoint twice. They wanted a security guard just on site. I was armed (carrying a gun, taser, mace, baton, wearing body armor). My main goal was as a deterrent from people attempting to rob the place. Did manage to do just that, but story for another time.
I'm standing near the checkout one night at about three in the morning. A man near my age was attempting to use a mix of food stamps and EBT to pay for his food, though, sadly, the EBT wouldn't allow him to purchase the fruit he'd chosen. So he went back to pick something else, but that was rejected. He did this two or three times more before giving up.
As I sat and watched him I felt my wallet burning. I wanted to just say, "Fuck it, I could buy it for him." But for some reason, I held back. I nodded a goodbye at him as he left. I sauntered after him, going for a smoke break. And I watched him get to his car.
His car, a brand new Dodge Charger, cherry red, racing stripe, custom rims, and I definitely caught a glimpse of a leather interior. Parked in handicapped parking, with no sign or plate for it.
Here I was, working 70+ hours a week to get by, doing random armed gigs, bodyguard work, bond work, and I was driving, at the time, a vehicle that broke down constantly, had nearly 240,000 miles on it, and was starting college.
Another time, working that same store (I was there for a week), I watched a family get out of a van, at least five people. Each of them grabbed a cart and started shopping. Their carts were overflowing with items when they lined up, at different registers, and paid, all of them using food stamps and EBT. They then left and got back into their van and left. It was a husband and wife, one adult kid, an uncle, and one grandmother. (or at least that was what I could understand.)