Tom Tillis, Speaker of the House from Mecklenburg, wants to test welfare-style program beneficiaries/applicants for drug use.

Watch out.

That means you can expect a slew of news reports that tell half the story about Florida’s experience with drug testing in a deliberate attempt to keep the program from spreading here. The media here in North Carolina will tell you that it is a waste of money because only a tiny percentage of people test positive, ususally less than one percent. But watch for what the media around here won’t tell you — that nearly 20 percent of applicants declined to take the test in Florida after being asked to take it as part of their benefits application.

No doubt that’s because they feared they would test positive. Which means the program is doing its job.

Which no one is going to want to report. The Charlotte Observer already kicked off the trend by leaving this very important piece of data out of its story. Let’s see if we can find one honest media outlet in the state that reports Florida’s experience with drug testing accurately as this controversial issue heats up. If you spot a news report telling the truth on this, and by that I mean including the stats on the applicants who declined to take the test, email the link to me at [email protected]. We’ll keep track.