drug testing

According to Oklahoma House Representatives John Bennett (R-Sallisaw) and Guy Liebmann (R-OKC), requiring drug testing for welfare recipients in Oklahoma would save taxpayer money.

"Last year when I filed this bill as a freshman lawmaker, we were told that the Department of Human Services stood to lose federal money if we imposed drug test at the state level," said state Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw. "Officials in Florida weren’t as timid and it is clear the program has been a huge success in just its first two months. As a result, we will try to advance this common-sense reform in Oklahoma again during the 2012 session."

However, this directly contradicts the reports from Florida which say that this mandatory drug testing is costing the state more.

At the risk of sounding too cliché... it's about damn time!

If you're like the majority of employees both in Oklahoma and throughout the United States, your employer likely subjects you to drug testing as a condition of your employment.  As it stands right now, if you are on welfare you are not required to submit to a drug test.  While I am all for freedom of choice as to whether someone wants to shoot their veins or snort coke, I'd much rather not be paying for it out of my taxes.

Senator Anthony Sykes has introduced a bill in the Oklahoma Senate to require all applicants and recipients of assistance through the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to submit to regular drug testing by the Department of Human Services.  The bill is introduced as an amendment to 56 OS 2001, Section 230.52, adding the following paragraph: