Drug-test manufacturers will be the big winners from the Government’s plans to screen beneficiaries, the Drug Foundation is warning. Yesterday the Government announced further details of its plans to drug-test beneficiaries. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament next month, with the proposed changes due in July next year.
Opposition parties immediately accused the Government of trying to distract attention away from the publication of the children’s commissioner’s child-poverty report.
Details of the Government plan revealed that experts would carry out “robust clinical assessments” to determine whether beneficiaries were recreational drug users or drug addicts. Companies would also be reimbursed for drug tests that beneficiaries failed.
Drug Foundation chief executive Ross Bell said drug tests were expensive and manufacturers stood to gain.
“They will be more actively going into workplaces and saying ‘Buy our services and don’t worry, the Government’s going to pick up the tab’.” Testing would creep into workplaces where safety was not an issue, he predicted.
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