Tag Archives: drug testing

State news

Drug-test elected officials? No, but the idea still intrigues

State Sen. Eddie Lucio has this goofy notion that Texas ought to require all elected officials submit to mandatory drug testing.

The Brownsville Democrat has inserted it into an amendment, which means the Senate could consider it before adjourning in a few weeks.

Dallas Morning News blogger/editorial writer Rodger Jones is adamantly opposed to the idea.

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/05/should-every-elected-official-across-texas-be-drug-tested.html/

I guess I share his opposition — to a degree.

But the idea of drug testing elected officials has a certain element of poetic irony to it, if you think about it for a moment.

City council members, school board trustees, college regents, state legislators, county department heads and statewide officeholders all have the authority to require testing of regular Texans. You know, folks like you and me.

Why not, then, require them to do the same thing? Why not subject the leaders who make these policy decisions to the very same hassles they place on the rest of us?

Jones writes: “… government gets horribly Big Brother-ish in presuming to extract samples from one’s body and laying out test results for all to see. Elected officials are private citizens first, public servants second. There should be a zone of privacy for them, just as there should be a zone for welfare recipients. Government should not stick its nose into our private affairs.”

Private citizens first, public servants second? By my way of thinking, elected officials take on a sort of co-equal standing. They are both private citizens and public servants equally, again in my view. How does one particular standing trump the other?

So, if they’re public servants and they hand out policy decisions that affect the lives of actual full-time private citizens, why is it unfair to require them to do the same thing they demand of others?

Jones is spot on about one point, though, in his opposition to Lucio’s idea. It’s impractical. It would create many thousands of urine samples and require government to test them for drugs.

It’s too expensive.

Still, a part of me wishes we could do such a thing.

 

Uncategorized

Coke charge frames larger drug-test issue

Trey Radel’s troubles in Florida bring to mind a larger question as it relates to drug testing for people seeking public assistance.

Shouldn’t the people who make these laws be beyond reproach?

Radel is a freshman Republican congressman who has been caught buying cocaine in an undercover sting operation. He faces possible jail time for the misdemeanor charge, although he’ll likely get away with probation, a fine and some community service.

The issue gets a little stickier.

Radel has been in the U.S. House of Representatives for less than a year, but he’s already made a bit of a name for himself by advocating drug testing for those seeking government assistance — you know, things like food stamps, welfare payments, that sort of thing.

Radel’s view — as it is with the mostly Republican contingent in Congress that supports this notion — is that those who are asking taxpayers to foot the bill to help them get by should be clean and sober.

I’m still undecided on how I feel about this issue, but Radel’s troubles may be persuading me to lean against mandating such requirements on potential recipients of government aid.

Why? Because we invite hypocrisy among those who make these laws. Witness the situation involving Radel. He insists that your Average Joe American behave himself if he’s going to get public assistance. He’s got to pass a drug test if he’s going to receive a small stipend to buy food or clothing for his kids.

Radel, though, isn’t following the same standard he’s setting for others.

It might be too much to ask the fallible human beings who make these laws to abide by the very rules they impose on others.

Then again, how hard can it be to elect people to high office who aren’t prone to use cocaine?

Perhaps we ought to subject federal and state lawmakers to mandatory drug testing. Do you think Congress and state legislatures would go for that?

Me neither.

Uncategorized

Rep. Radel becomes latest face of hypocrisy

Trey Radel has become the latest face of congressional hypocrisy.

The freshman Republican from Florida was caught purchasing cocaine in a federal drug sting. It’s a misdemeanor offense, which means he’ll get off with a slap on the wrist, a fine, probation and maybe some community service.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/190862-report-radel-caught-buying-cocaine-in-federal-sting-operation

Why is he a hypocrite?

Radel, who was elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, has advocated drug testing for Americans seeking government assistance. It’s a popular cause among tea party Republicans seeking to build in some form of accountability for those seeking help from the government. They contend that recipient of government aid must behave themselves if they’re going to ask their fellow Americans to subsidize their standard of living.

Now the guy gets caught buying some blow in a drug sting.

Do as I say, not as I do … correct, congressman?

I’m glad he’s so contrite. He said he’s battling alcoholism and that he succumbed to temptation. Radel is vowing to get counseling and treatment. I wish him and his family well.

He’s not the first lawmaker to get caught in an act of hypocrisy. He won’t be the last. My advice to the young man, though, would be to pick his public policy battles more carefully.

He will have a hard time as it is shaking the hypocrite label.