Drug Testing for Welfare? You Bet!

There seems to be a general consensus among tax paying citizens that the people who are receiving financial aid should have to pass drug testing in order to get their money, just like the tax paying citizens have to do in order to work for the money those in need are receiving. I agree with those thoughts. Strongly.

At this point in time, Florida and Missouri both have laws in place that require welfare recipients to participate and pass drug testing in order to receive aid. We have a bill sitting in front of the Commission of Children, Families and People with Disabilities in Massachusetts that would require the same law to be passed in the Commonwealth. The current Bill H.974, pertains to drug testing individuals in Massachusetts that are receiving government assistance. The Bill was originated by Mr. F Jay Barrows of Mansfield in June of 2011. Mr. Barrows serves on two committees, the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing and the House Committee of Ethics. The Bill provides that those who are receiving transitional assistance and have a record of drug use, conviction of any related drug charge, including selling and distribution to have random drug testing. If the individuals are not drug free and will not comply with the rehabilitation programs available to them, they may have their financial benefits suspended, not including food stamps, which is a federally funded program.

Now, comes your part. What can you do to show your support for this Bill? You need to contact the Chairman of the Committee for Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities and let him know that you support this Bill. After you have done that, pass on this information, or pass it on before you can make your phone call, send your email, or snail mail your letter. But it has to be done before the first week in March! “Okay! I'll Do It!” you are saying, “but who is this person I must contact, and where is his information?” Lucky for you, I have gathered all that information for you.

Chairman of the Committee for Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, Michael J. Rodrigues, State House, Room 213B, Boston, MA 02133. Phone number: 617-722-1114. Email address is: Michael.Rodrigues@masenate.gov

Now go ahead and make your voice heard, and spread the word. This is definitely a case of the more the merrier. If you don't take the opportunity to speak out, I don't want to hear how angry this makes you when you see people who are known for drug use, selling, or possession of drugs blatantly abusing the system that was put in place to give a hand up, not a hand out. 

Who Are You, Anyways?

A small article in the local paper caught my attention this week.

In Lowell, Massachusetts, the city council passed a law that limits the hours that level 3 sex offenders can be at the library. My first thought was, do they really hang out at the library anyways, doesn't seem to be a very sex offender type of place be. Then I thought, well, I suppose if they were maybe looking for someone to offend, the library might be a good place. The concept is that they are limiting the time the offenders can be in the library to coincide with the high usage by children.

Then I began to ponder this even a little further, and I have been known to do on occasion. How are they going to know that these people are sex offenders? Are there pictures of them posted all over the library? You know, like the pictures of criminals or dead beat dads that they used to have posted at the post office? I have never seen someone walking around with a sign around their neck, or a name badge that introduces them as a sex offender, much less, a level 3 sex offender. Have you?

Will they have Homeland Security agents checking ID's and finger prints against a computer data base guarding the door? Maybe they can wear a big red 3 on their clothing, like Hester in The Scarlet Letter? That seemed very convincing in social identification for the community.

This is not pro-sex offender liberties ideology I am offering up. I am just wondering how they are going to logistically enforce this law? Maybe it is not really up to the local principalities to come up with such laws, but the higher courts where these people are originally tried and found guilty of the offense in the first place. If individuals are found to be a high threat to society as a whole, should they really be released back into the community?

I am pretty sure not all sex offenders have wound up in Lowell, Massachusetts, so here is the National Sex Offender Registry as well as the FBI Sex Offender Registry. Always better to be aware of your surroundings and neighbors than have nasty surprises.