When individuals take advantage of the state’s supports— it is a crime against the people of the Commonwealth. The Lynn EBT case is a prime example of the kind of offense we are talking about. In case you missed it in the lead-up to the holidays, the parties involved withdrew money through their EBT accounts which they used to purchase illegal drugs. If this did in fact occur it is clearly unacceptable. The prosecutors and law enforcement officials involved in bringing this important case should be applauded. The double-dealing these parties were involved in takes resources from families and individuals struggling in the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression. The scale of the fraud alleged in this case clearly demonstrates that the EBT system should be reformed. These individuals if convicted should be punished as severely as permitted by statute. With that said though, it is important that we also remember that the vast majority of public assistance beneficiaries follow the rules and are law abiding citizens. Any forthcoming reform effort must put recipients’ and their families first.
The underlying behavior in this case must be seen for what it is… the desperate actions of people who are addicted to a narcotic. Across the country, republicans in statehouse after statehouse have called for drug testing people receiving public assistance. This approach represents a kind of collective punishment, targeting people because they are poor or experiencing a personal or professional hardship. Undoubtedly, Massachusetts needs to increase treatment resources. Addiction must be treated as an illness and not a personal failing.
Targeting people confronting personal or professional hardships who happen to be sick for political gain can only be seen as crass and extreme. Massachusetts must be certain to avoid the kinds of pitfalls that a growing list of GOP policymakers nationally are rallying around, like drug testing welfare recipients. This is not a new idea, but it is a misguided one. We must recognize that drug testing is expensive and resources for testing will come at the expense of other programs and those accessing benefits elsewhere across State Government. Denying services to people who test positive for drug use will make them more dependent on local government and other state government services including: DCF, Corrections, Probation and Parole. Service providers will be stretched as they are called upon to fill the void including: the Federal government in the form of WIC, and other non-profits and countless service organizations. This is not a way to curtail spending; rather it’s a drastic cost-shift from one department or office to another.
More importantly, countless clinical research studies have repeatedly shown that the denial of public assistance services, do not dissuade people with drug and alcohol issues from using illegal substances. Instead, it creates a spike in violent crime which makes us all less safe, as people with addiction issues seek alternate ways to fund their continued substance use.
Denying public assistance to people struggling with drug and alcohol issues may feel good; but it is the public policy equivalent of playing ‘whack-a-mole’. Only through adequately funded treatment resources will the Commonwealth begin to address the individual issues which cause desperate people to turn to substance use in the first place.
My name is Steve May (D-Hull) and I’m running for the State Senate in the Plymouth and Norfolk district (Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, Weymouth). I’m also a clinical social worker with seven years experience primarily treating persons with drug and alcohol issues. I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that we’re facing a fundraising deadline… http://bit.ly/CitizensForSteveMay
was the fact that the convenience stores were caught and shut down en mass. Personally, I think that’s an example of the system working.
We will *never* get something this massive in scope 100% right. We may never even get it 98% right. What happens when we get some slanted newspaper headlines and hysterically-written articles like the one in the Item that covered this story is that people start to think these systems are more abused than they are used properly. I think that’s asinine.
Let’s also remember that not only was the food stamp program, when they were actually stamps, ripe with the same abuse and maybe even more so, it was also costlier as a system — and fewer people were willing to use it because of potential embarrassment, with their families suffering from poorer nutrition because of it.
The question we’re left with is what would we prefer, making sure at-risk people in this country have at least some food to eat so they don’t starve, or getting so caught up in bad headlines that we cut off our nose, so we spite our face?
In the meantime, let’s focus on subtle reforms to make the system work better and more efficiently, even as demand for them continue to grow, and let’s make sure we go after the Big Players in any abuse scandal, like what happened in Lynn. If convenience stores abuse the system, it’s exceptionally easy to track and those stores can and will be shut down.
for pointing out the criminal drug dealers at the convenience stores. There is no connection between poverty and drug abuse any more than convenience stores and drug pushers.
Thanks to Florida Gov. Scott who insisted on drug testing welfare recipients, the results of 2% positive tests are far lower than 6.6% of the general population estimated by the Center for Disease Control.
It did not save taxpayers any money as the cost of the drug tests were almost equal to the amount of welfare payments denied.
Curiously, the contract for the drug testing went to a company founded by….drum roll…. Gov. Scott, who was also interested in testing public employees. They also receive taxpayer money.
Unfortunately for the drug testing company, a federal judge blocked the program ruling it law probably violates a constitutional ban on unreasonable search and seizure.
by the Daily Show…