By 
At a time when drug abuse and addiction have reached record levels across the United States, and government agencies from the White House on down are engaged in serious efforts to provide more treatment facilities, the state of Kentucky is considering a bill that eliminates all public assistance to anyone. testing positive for drugs, including access to publicly funded drug treatment and detoxification programs.
The new bill would require random drug testing for all adults applying for, or already receiving, public assistance such as welfare, food stamps, or assistance from Kentucky’s publicly funded medical programs. If applicants or welfare recipients refuse to be tested or test positive, additional public assistance would be denied.
The proposed bill that would cut these people’s access to public assisted detoxification and rehabilitation programs is puzzling when you consider that Kentucky has one of the highest prescription drug abuse statistics in the country: One study found that 20 % of the population uses illicit prescription drugs: that’s one person in five who obtains prescription drugs from an illicit source. Prescription drug addiction, dependency, and abuse account for 20% of Kentucky’s admissions for drug detoxification, drug rehabilitation, and other treatment modalities.
In fact, the abuse of the prescription narcotic pain reliever OxyContin has been so prevalent in Kentucky that the drug goes by the dubious nickname of “hillbilly heroin.” Kentucky has literally thousands of OxyContin addicts, many in jail or awaiting detox and rehab, and hundreds of deaths have been attributed to the drug. But the prevailing view in Kentucky appears to be a reluctance to spend taxpayer money on welfare if the recipient abuses drugs.
However, by refusing treatment based on a drug test, the new bill would contribute to increased addiction, more drug-related crime, and higher medical and criminal justice costs. Taxpayers would end up paying more, in the long run, than the cost of drug detoxification and rehab, and the state and society would lose the opportunity to return their citizens to productivity.
It has been proven many times that with the right encouragement, motivation, and support, almost any drug addict or drug abuser will agree to enter drug detox and rehab. Thousands of dependencies and addictions are successfully treated every day with medical drug detoxification to help eliminate immediate cravings and withdrawal symptoms. When followed by comprehensive drug rehab, ex-addicts return to responsible, drug-free, and productive lives, not welfare-abusing drug abusers.
It is understandable that taxpayers balk at footing the bill for welfare recipients who abuse their status through drug abuse. But a different approach could help satisfy reluctant taxpayers and also get drug addicts into treatment and back into the productive stream of Kentucky life.
Why not offer public assistance recipients who fail the drug test at least a chance to accept an alternative, drug detox and rehab program, rather than bar them from getting help with their drug problem in the first place? ?
Refusing to enter drug detox and rehab, or failing any subsequent drug tests after completing drug detox and rehab during the time they are receiving welfare, would go a long way to reducing welfare rolls and increasing the workforce with rehabilitated citizens.
A few days in a good medical drug detox program followed by full rehab could help turn the tide in Kentucky and open the door to increased productivity and money savings for all concerned.