Drug Testing State Employees is a Big-Government Boondoggle

I have been very fair to Rick Scott thus far, in reminding readers that most of his actions were exactly what the governor promised on the campaign trail, so unless they were part of the minority of Floridians who did not vote for him (or among the nearly half of eligible voters who didn't bother to vote, and in my book have little room to complain), they are getting their product as advertised.

Rick Scott the candidate told you he was going to deregulate every industry he could. Rick Scott the governor has followed through. Ditto for land development, Medicaid privatization and education. We're getting what was sold to us. However, it didn't take long for the governor to start pushing the sort of hypocrisy-ridden policies that advance special interests, while going against his purported idealogical beliefs. This is where all Floridians have a right to call him on it.

There is no evidence of rampant drug use among people on public assistance in our state. In fact, more than a decade ago Florida embarked on a costly program to drug test public assistance recipients, spending millions of dollars to learn that the epidemic of the drug-using welfare check casher didn't exist. There is also no evidence that there is a problem with drug use among state employees who are not already tested because of high-risk jobs involving things like machine operation or child safety.

Nonetheless, the governor who promised not to grow government's reach or add unnecessary expense to the budget is mandating a program that is sure to cost at least over $20 million annually (with some estimates several times that) to combat a problem that only he sees. Scott says that Floridians deserve to know that state employees are drug free, but I for one have no such expectation and certainly feel more entitled to my child getting a better public education with that tax money. If there is any drug-related program I'd be comfortable seeing that kind of funding spent on, it would be a pill mill database, an area where we couldn't be more certain an epidemic actually does exist.

So if I understand the governor, the state has no place regulating that problem and it's not really his job to help see that the pill head who might break into my car looking for spare change to get his or her fix is cut off from their legally-endorsed supplier, but I am owed the knowledge that a perfectly competent state employee who goes home and smokes a joint before bed rather than a martini, is off the payroll. Because let's face it, drug testing is not effective in maintaining a drug-free workplace, as just about any drug will stay in the system and be detected even if an employee is never under its influence while on the job. Because it cannot distinguish the difference, it is an unwarranted invasion of their privacy.

On the other hand, a state employee who pops Oxycodone all day that they doctor-shop from a dozen different pill mills will be fine, because even if such narcotics are tested for, they can produce a "prescription" and be off the hook. Clearly the measure is flaw-ridden enough to be farcical even before the tens of millions of dollars enter the equation. Drug testing state employees four times a year would be little more than a giant boondoggle for the companies (like Scott's Solantic) that would profit from administering the test. It's more big government intrusion created by manufacturing a need for some service that facilitates the transfer of wealth from the taxpayer to a special interest – in this case one that Scott himself has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars as a major player in. The people of Florida deserve better.

Tell Governor Scott what you think. Click here to send him an email.