cannabisnews.com: ACLU Hails Ruling on Welfare Drug Tests 





ACLU Hails Ruling on Welfare Drug Tests 
Posted by CN Staff on April 10, 2003 at 13:47:37 PT
By Bree Fowler, Associated Press Writer 
Source: Associated Press
Detroit -- A civil liberties group applauded a federal appeals court's ruling that declared Michigan's sweeping drug-testing program for welfare recipients unconstitutional. The decision was issued Wednesday by a divided 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The American Civil Liberties Union had argued that the 1999 program involved unreasonable searches and set a dangerous precedent.
``It's been a long process, something that probably never should have started,'' said Graham Boyd, the director of the ACLU's drug policy litigation project in New Haven, Conn. ``We're very happy to see it put to rest.'' Maureen Sorbet, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Family Independence Agency, said state officials will review the decision and then decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Under the Michigan program, people applying for welfare through the state's Family Independence Agency would be tested for illegal drug use, and 20 percent of those receiving welfare assistance would be randomly tested every six months. Anyone testing positive would have to go to a drug treatment agency, and the state could refuse benefits if a recipient didn't comply with treatment or refused to be tested. In the five weeks it operated, 268 welfare recipients were tested. Twenty-one tested positive for drug use, most for marijuana, according to the ACLU of Michigan. The ACLU sued on behalf of all Michigan welfare recipients, and U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts issued a restraining order to stop the testing, saying it likely violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure. A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Roberts' decision in October, saying the program was based on a legitimate need to protect the children of recipients and the public. But on Wednesday, the full court changed course and affirmed Roberts' ruling. The ACLU's Boyd said there was a danger that if the Michigan program was allowed to continue, drug testing could have carried over to other programs regulated by state governments. For example, states might choose to deny driver's licenses to people who fail drug tests, he said. ``The same argument could be tied to everything,'' Boyd said. ``That logic has no stopping point.'' Other states have drug-testing programs, but most are unlikely to be affected by Wednesday ruling because they aren't as sweeping as Michigan's program and applying instead to specific circumstances, said Andrea Wilkins, with the National Conference of State Legislatures. According to the Welfare Information Network, a Washington-based clearinghouse, states with some form of drug testing for welfare recipients include Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oregon. On the Net: U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals: http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov Michigan Family Independence Agency: http://www.michigan.gov/fia Source: Associated PressAuthor:  Bree Fowler, Associated Press Writer Published: Thursday, April 10, 2003Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/Whose Urine Is It? - New York Timeshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14570.shtmlDrug Tests For Welfare Recipients Upheld http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14500.shtml
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Comment #21 posted by Lehder on April 11, 2003 at 12:10:44 PT
"Where does it end?"
"Further, as the article suggests, this
   leaves a door open for drug users to be descriminated with other government services.
   How about drug tests to receive unemployment? Drug tests to go to a state college? Drug
   tests to receive medicaid? Where does it end?" Genocide. The genocide has already begun in a hundred little ways - disenfranchisement, homelessness, unemployability, poverty, isolation...that add up to death in increments. The foreign genocides, though not reported as such, are conducted more or less publicly. For now, domestically, police repression and brutality will accelerate to levels that few would ever anticipate. In a year or two we will hardly be able to believe the reports - when we can get them. In the end, the domestic genocide will be conducted openly as the foreign genocides are now, and, while there will be no gas chambers, the steps of incremental death will be bigger and quicker. In the end, as the tyrants see but cannot accept that they must perish themselves, the great corporations and the major politicians will fight among themselves - corporations will be at war with each other, and Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al. will be at each others throats, each accusing the others of treason. The war on drugs was the vanguard of it all, but now has become a very small issue indeed.
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Comment #20 posted by afterburner on April 11, 2003 at 12:08:04 PT:
More Details from the Court.
US MI: Column: Welfare Rules Too Harsh, Court Affirms 11 Apr 2003 
Detroit Free Press 
http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v03/n515/a10.html?397ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.
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Comment #19 posted by i420 on April 11, 2003 at 07:29:44 PT
REMONSTRANCE PETITIONS
Two years that i have been using the net for mj activism not once have i heard mention of remonstrance petitions. These petitions are used to stop local projects. Hmmmmmmmm is your prosecuting attorney for your county prosecuting non-violent marijuana offenders well just get on the remonstrance petition bandwagon and start petitions whenever you can. My goal is to turn in a petition opposing deregulation of city utilities with EXACTLY 420 signatures. I need only 200 signatures to make it happen.NOTE:This could be best described as local officials hit a brick wall called payback for pot prohibition.
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on April 10, 2003 at 22:41:38 PT
afterburner
Thanks for the link. Cliff Schaffer has a remarkable web site full of information. I remember his web site was one of the first ones I found when I got on line.
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Comment #17 posted by afterburner on April 10, 2003 at 22:13:57 PT:
Another Interesting Fact from the Hooked Video
1914 the Harrison Tax Act overcame the legal objections of states rights and control over one's own body. It created criminals out of patients and users and even doctors. This was the beginning of federal drug prohibition."An Act To provide for the registration of, with collectors of internal revenue, and to impose a special tax on all persons who produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations, and for other purposes."
-Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, 1914 - Full Text http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/e1910/harrisonact.htmego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on April 10, 2003 at 21:57:59 PT
freedom fighter one more link
http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/treatments/drugs/amphetamine.htm
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Comment #15 posted by afterburner on April 10, 2003 at 21:57:31 PT:
The Eagle and the Dragon and the Boxer Rebellion
The mention of the Philipino campaign in the Hooked video reminded me of the original "Open Door Policy" toward China."For most of its 4,000-year history, China allowed very few Westerners into the 'Dragon Empire' except to do limited business at trading posts along The Silk Road and at a few seaports. But by the 1800s, Western powers were building their colonial empires and wanted a piece of the Qing Dynasty (formerly Ch'ing Dynasty, 1644-1911) for themselves. The empire was vast, over 4 million square miles. It included Manchuria, Turkestan, Burma, Tibet and Nepal. And other neighboring countries paid tribute to China's power. The West found a Chinese weakness, however - an addiction to opium. Opium smuggling into China created huge profits for foreign merchants, including prominent Americans, but it nearly destroyed the Chinese economy. The Opium Wars of the 1840s to 1850s ended in a humiliating defeat for the Qing Dynasty and foretold the end of the empire.Great Britain, France, Russia, Japan, and others expanded their 'spheres of influence' along the China coast and into neighboring countries. But until the Spanish American War of 1898, the American presence in China was limited to missionary work or trade (legal and illegal). After annexing the Philippine Islands, however, the United States also joined the ranks of 'foreign devils.'"-The Eagle and the Dragon
http://www.hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/China/Political%20Evolution/19thc/19thhome.htm"So while the empress was hoping to close China to foreigners, Americans were looking for a way in. John Hay, now Secretary of State, had an idea. Since public opinion, strained by the Philippines war, would never support the use of force, he decided to negotiate. He sent letters to all the foreign powers and suggested an 'Open Door' policy in China. This policy would guarantee equal trading rights for all and prevent one nation from discriminating against another within its sphere....While the outside powers bickered over who would control China, Tsu Hsi issued an imperial message to all the Chinese provinces....In northern Shandong province, a devastating drought was pushing people to the edge of starvation. Few people there were thinking about making peace. A secret society, known as the Fists of Righteous Harmony, attracted thousands of followers. Foreigners called members of this society 'Boxers' because they practiced martial arts. The Boxers also believed that they had a magical power, and that foreign bullets could not harm them. Millions of 'spirit soldiers,' they said, would soon rise from the dead and join their cause. Their cause, at first, was to overthrow the imperial Ch'ing government and expel all 'foreign devils' from China. The crafty empress, however, saw a way to use the Boxers. Through her ministers, she began to encourage the Boxers. Soon a new slogan -- 'Support the Ch'ing; destroy the foreigner!' -- appeared upon the Boxers' banner." 
 -The Boxer Rebellion
http://www.smplanet.com/imperialism/fists.htmlI saw an old movie about the Boxer Rebellion recently, but I had difficulty in identifying with the British and other foreign delegates. It smacked of colonialism.ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on April 10, 2003 at 21:48:31 PT
freedom fighter
I found this article. They still are orange it seems. 
‘Go Pills’: A War on Drugs?: http://www.msnbc.com/news/854560.asp?cp1=1
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on April 10, 2003 at 21:43:49 PT
freedomfighter
No not Meth but speed non the same. Go Pills are what they call them now. It's what soldiers take now to keep going. As far as I know they are amphetamines like Black Beauties were back in the 70s. When my husband was in the service they handed out orange pills. He was up one time for 9 days with them! He was a skinny thing when he was in Vietnam. He dropped down to 135 pounds and is 6 feet tall.When they need to rest they give them No Go Pills. I heard an interview that was on MSNBC a few weeks back and they talked about Go Pills and No Go Pills.
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Comment #12 posted by elfman_420 on April 10, 2003 at 21:39:48 PT
MaryJaneFreedom
In the five weeks it operated, 268 welfare recipients were tested. Twenty-one tested positive for drug use, most for marijuana, according to the ACLU of Michigan. 
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Comment #11 posted by freedom fighter on April 10, 2003 at 21:33:42 PT
FoM, I'm feeling stupid
but is Go pills just another word for Meth?pazff
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on April 10, 2003 at 21:11:43 PT
afterburner
You're very welcome. It was a great series. It shows the use and abuse of drugs from a historic viewpoint. Tomorrow night on the History Channel it will be on LSD and Ecstasy. I found the programs on heroin and marijuana the most interesting. The use of amphetamines ( in the marijuana program) was an eye opener when I realized the use of that drug in war. It's still being used today. They just have a nice name now. Go Pills. 
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Comment #9 posted by afterburner on April 10, 2003 at 20:46:12 PT:
FoM - re: Hemp TV Video: Hooked
I spent about two-and-a-half hours cycling fitfully through the 2 x 45 minute segments. Some interesting details, names of doctors, federal agents, law makers, and soldiers. Most of the really problem drugs were used recklessly in war without heed for the consequences. The last shot of the young girl with the needle in her arm reminded me of a quote from Jesse Jackson: "Children are shooting dope in their veins because parents forgot to shoot hope in their brains." Thanks for posting the link.ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.
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Comment #8 posted by TecHnoCult on April 10, 2003 at 19:14:37 PT
MaryJaneFreedom
Besides what afterburner said, the big problem is this cultural war that says that a marijuana smoker must go to treatment to get the same services available to anyone else. I don't want to pay for them to smoke cigarettes, or drink beer either, but it would be a blatant invasion of privacy to test them for those drugs. Further, as the article suggests, this leaves a door open for drug users to be descriminated with other government services. How about drug tests to receive unemployment? Drug tests to go to a state college? Drug tests to receive medicaid? Where does it end?THC
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Comment #7 posted by freedom fighter on April 10, 2003 at 19:13:23 PT
But MaryJaneFreedom,
I thought we are innocent until we are proven guilty. By what you said, it is pretty obivious that you never had to be forced to take a piss test.Not sure if you realize that the very act of Piss test means you are guilty until you prove that you are innocent. Since we are discussing taxpayers's monies, do you think it is allright if by stepping out of your house, using the public roadways paid for by the taxpayers, you ought to prove me you are innocent by taking a piss in front of me every week?Nah, I do'nt think so...pazff
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Comment #6 posted by afterburner on April 10, 2003 at 19:02:32 PT:
MaryJaneFreedom
You miss the point. I'm not saying that welfare recipients should spend their meager funds on drugs of any sort. I am opposed to the assumption that says that is what they will do, that says all welfare recipients must be drug tested. Guilty until proven innocent. This is not the American way, the civilized way. This is Big Government demonizing the powerless and punishing the poor. And in a long recession following two decades of downsizing, watch what you wish for, or the next welfare recipient might be you.ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.
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Comment #5 posted by MaryJaneFreedom on April 10, 2003 at 18:09:31 PT
ah Come on guys
Hey I actually think this drug testing is a good thing. Do any of you want people spending tax payers dollars on crack! Come on... if you're going to do drugs... buy them yourself!
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Comment #4 posted by afterburner on April 10, 2003 at 17:09:35 PT:
Hail Detroit
Even Ontario has dabbled in mandatory drug testing in their great worship of all things American. Mandatory drug testing of welfare recipients "evolves" in Ontario. Government fans of DEAland have their say."Mandatory drug testing and treatment constitute an invasion of privacy and may be the subject of a legal challenge. Alcohol and drug dependence is considered a disability under the Ontario Human Rights Code and a refusal of social assistance benefits on that basis might be found to be discriminatory. The Ontario Court of Appeal has found that pre-employment drug testing and random drug testing violated the Ontario Human Rights Code."Workfare Watch Bulletin - Volume 1 Bulletin #12 May 2001 - Mandatory Drug and Literacy Testing http://www.welfarewatch.toronto.on.ca/wrkfrw/bul12.htmStudy shows welfare workers are bullied and overworked (News ... 
http://www.cupe.ca/mediaroom/newsreleases/showitem.asp?ID=3080&cl=1CN ON: Drug Testing For Welfare Clients Evolves http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1448/a04.html?1689**********************************************************************
Meanwhile back in the workplace, fans of DEAland set similar policies in Ontario.TD's "official" logic runs thusly: People who "do drugs" ("drugs": a generic term indicating the person using it actually knows nothing about "drugs") are a higher risk in job performance. Of course, there's no proof of this -- welllll, except for alcohol, which is notorious for decreasing work performance, but TD isn't testing for booze....TD tests for opiates, cocaine and marijuana. eyeNET asked Wiens if she believes marijuana belongs on the same plateau as coke and smack."Yes. We just don't want any drug users."What about alcohol?She corrects herself. "We don't want any illegal drug users."Canadian marijuana advocates say Wiens' response proves this isn't a workplace/health issue but rather a political/subculture issue. It's a war on lifestyle, not drug use.Many advocates ask the public to bank anywhere but TD. -Pissing Away [21 Apr 1995] - Urine Drug Testing
http://www.drugwar.com/news47.shtmsee also: Erowid Drug Testing Vaults : Media Article #5
http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/testing/testing_media5.shtmlHas TD Bank, now called TD Canada Trust, changed their draconian practices? Medical cannabis patients and human rights activists want to know.Top Story: Canadian Court Rules For Breathalyzer Tests for Alcohol – Against Urine Testing for Marijuana. 
Posted by Richard Cowan on 2000-07-24 15:33:35 
http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=260ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on April 10, 2003 at 16:36:49 PT
RevHappy 
I you have a great march this year!
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Comment #2 posted by RevHappy on April 10, 2003 at 16:08:07 PT:
Gov Opposed This
Jenny Granholm protested this during the election, stating that drug testing was "Degrading and Demoralizing"So it was due...
Michigan Marijuana Marches May 3rd Flint Lansing Detroit TC And BC
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on April 10, 2003 at 14:04:59 PT
Hemp TV Video
For those who haven't been able to watch Hooked: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way -- here it is from Hemp TV!http://www.crrh.org/hemptv/docs_hooked.htmlNext Airing: Thursday, Apr 10   9pm ET/PT  
 Hooked: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way: MarijuanaIn a series investigating the history of drug use, we begin our trip tracing the rise of marijuana and synthetic amphetamines. Marijuana, from the Indian hemp plant, has been used worldwide as a source of rope, cloth, and paper; its medicinal qualities were first documented 4,000 years ago in China. But it's best known as the drug of choice of the 1960s. WWII U.S. troops were given an estimated 200 million amphetamines to fight drowsiness and battle fatigue and they're still used to fight depression. TV PG 
 http://www.historychannel.com/global/listings/series_showcase.jsp?EGrpType=Series&Id=215731&NetwCode=THC
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