Hmm... not a bad idea. Free Tuition -- After a Drug Test West Virginia joins other states in offering free tuition at community colleges. But the new law is unique in asking all students seeking eligibility to pass a drug test. Starting in July, students in West Virginia seeking to take advantage of the state's new tuition-free community college program will have to submit to a blanket drug test. The policy makes West Virginia's free-tuition legislation unique nationwide. Frankly, these seems like a good idea. Why waste money on druggies?
My problem is that it's probably a waste of money to give the drug tests. When my state (FL) started drug testing welfare recipients, the cost of the drug tests were more than the amount of money they saved by rejecting people.
That doesn't include the people who didn't apply for welfare because they didn't want to be drug tested. In my opinion, it was money well spent. But the community college argument is a bit different. Why waste money on wastrels and ner do wells who are not going to make anything of themselves and will just waste a seat in class that could have gone to someone more deserving? It's not a perfect solution. In my opinion a better screening process would be to take the the top scorers in the SAT or ACT and offer them free community college seats, but in our current educational climate, that might be considered more radical than drug testing.
There was no noted reduction in number of applications for welfare benefits. It was a waste of money. It was a good experiment, but told us that we didn't need to do it anymore. The thing is what people THINK are problems (like drug use by welfare recipients) are not really problems. Data shows us the truth in those cases. The top scorers in the SAT or ACT already get scholarships, and it's pretty much to the state college of their choice. I have two sons in college. One was a very high scorer on both SAT and ACT. He had a wide variety of schools to choose from with scholarships.
So a person who smokes pot is a wastrel and n'er do well? Do you feel they are undeserving of a break for that reason, or do you think they will not do anything with the education provided. And as more and more states will be legalizing marijuana, how will this work?
Could you post that? Well the lowest scorers don't need to go to college, so what other criteria do you suggest?
Potheads can continue to go to community college. Just on their own dime. As a taxpayer I would find it difficult to justify wasting precious resources on them though.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/us/no-savings-found-in-florida-welfare-drug-tests.html My point is that your suggestion was already implemented. IMHO, you are not really aware of how this works in real life. I agree, in theory, it would be good to do the drug testing, but it's just not worth the expense in real life.
Dang! Well hopefully West Virginia will do studies on the graduation rates and GPA of potheads vs non potheads to see if it's worthwhile.
I'm assuming, by your use of the word 'wasting' that you believe 'potheads' cannot make it through college? That they'll drop out? Or that they won't be able to find gainful employment or contribute to society?
It's only one data point, so of course some potheads will excel in school and life. But in the aggregate, I suspect they perform poorly academically compared to non potheads, and in a world of limited dollars and limited seats in higher education, where do you get the most bang for the buck, with potheads or with non potheads?
You are basing your post on your supposition. The potheads I knew (including myself) in University were not wastrels.
And the university staff that the tuition is paid to, also must pass drug tests. But even deeper, everyone is catching on that free stuff isn't free. THE NEW YORK TIMES REALIZES THAT SOCIALISM DEPENDS ON IGNORANCE: Americans generally like the idea of taxing other people to provide benefits for people like themselves. But not surprisingly, redistributive policies become less popular as more details about them become known — one reason some Democrats are worried that initial public support for proposals like “Medicare for all” and guaranteed free tuition to public two- and four-year colleges will eventually wane. Imagine.
This is stupid. The point of a good education is to better society and get people off the streets, and off of drugs and into a better way of life. Drug tests just further the divide. What they SHOULD DO is offer free treatment to addicts and free tuition after they successfully complete treatment...and drug tests would then be appropriate. However the drug tests should not be used to punish people, rather to assess if they are ready for school in the first place, or whether they need more treatment.
Calling a drug addict a "druggie" is like calling a paraplegic a "cripple." It implies that you think you are better than them because you don't have their disease.
Most paraplegics don't cripple themselves on purpose. I think I would feel differently about those who did as opposed to those who are that way due to accidents, "acts of god," and other unavoidable circumstances. My point is that seats in college are scarce, limited resources that shouldn't be wasted on those who...are just going to waste them.