'THEY'RE NOT ALL DRUG ABUSERS' WELFARE TESTING FINDS OTHER ILLS

The percentage of Jacksonville-area welfare applicants found to be
using illegal drugs is lower than that of the general populace,
according to results of a new state drug abuse test for people
applying for welfare.

The test results also show that, for welfare applicants, chronic
depression and other mental health problems are more prevalent than
drug problems.

The planned statewide test, which includes series of psychological
questions, has been piloted in the Jacksonville area since January.
Results show that of 1,364 applicants, 5 percent - 72 - tested
positive for illegal drugs.

The 72 represent 21 percent of the 340 people who were referred for
urinalysis tests.

In comparison, an estimated 6.5 percent of Americans use illegal
drugs, according to national drug abuse experts. Estimates for Florida
and the Jacksonville area range from 5 to 10 percent.

''The thing we all seem to have in our heads is that it's only the
poor who do this stuff,'' said Donnelly Rembert, a Methodist Medical
Center grant writer who recently completed a Jacksonville study on
mental health and substance abuse.

''The middle class can demand that the poor stop using drugs and that
they get testedall the time,'' she said. ''But if you have money, the
only reason you have to stop [using drugs] is if your life gets way
out of control.''

Under the Florida law passed last year requiring the screen ing,
welfare applicants who fail the drug test are offered free treatment,
and those who receive the treatment don't lose out on benefits. The
test is for illegal drugs, not alcohol or prescription drugs. But
treatment is offered for people who abuse those drugs too.

People who refuse to be screened or test positive and refuse treatment
for drug problems are denied cash assistance, but they can receive
Medicaid and food stamps.

The applicant screening, also being tried in Tallahassee, comes amid a
nationwide effort to move people off welfare.

Since the effort began in 1996, the welfare rolls have decreased by
about 65 percent. Annual welfare payments have shrunk from about $23
billion to $19 billion nationwide, and from about $3 million to
$900,000 in the Jacksonville area.

St. Johns County has been giving urinalysis tests to people who apply
for county welfare assistance for several years. Of 742 applicants
tested in 1997, 33 of them, or 4 percent, tested positive for illegal
drugs, county statistics show.

Under the Florida law, people must be tested if there's a ''reasonable
suspicion'' they're drug abusers. Getting a psychological profile via
a series of questions is the best way to find out if there's a
reasonable suspicion, officials said.

Applicants are asked, for example, if they have never felt sad over
anything, if they are often resentful, if their life is uninteresting
or if they are sometimes ''no good for anything at all.'' Even though
the individual questions seem innocuous, drug abusers usually answer
them in similar patterns, officials said.

Results showing low percentages of drug abuse come as good news for
Candace Moody, director of employer services for First Coast Workforce
Development, which seeks jobs for people on welfare.

''There's a stereotype about people on welfare, and we're delighted
the test results prove that wrong,'' Moody said. '' . . . They're not
all drug abusers.''

The results show that no one has refused the screenings or drug tests
in Jacksonville. Four people who have tested positive have refused
treatment.

''Many of the most serious drug users openly admit their problems,''
said Phyllis Cooper, assessment specialist for River Region Human
Services, the agency handling the testing in Jacksonville.

''They're sick and tired of being sick and tired,'' Cooper
said.

The test results also show that, of the 1,364 applicants in the
Jacksonville area, 123 have been referred to mental health counseling.

The message is that, more often than simply abusing drugs, people
applying for cash assistance have trouble coping, Cooper said.

''Usually, when people apply for welfare, they're not just concerned
about getting a job,'' she said.

''They're also worried about problems with their spouse or how they're
going to afford day care or how they're going to catch the bus for
work.''