Argument Essay: Drug Testing for Welfare

a.i) Government assistance, or welfare, is a very broad term. There are many different welfare programs available in the United States e.g., food stamps, cash assistance, and government housing. Currently there is mass debate, in courtrooms across the U.S., regarding the legality and morality of pre-assistance drug testing. This report is intended to familiarize the reader with the history of welfare reform; the histories of drug testing in regards to assistance eligibility; and persuade the audience to vote yes for mandatory pre-assistance drug testing.

“A closed mouth doesn’t get fed” is a saying that many people have heard throughout life. This saying was brought about to encourage people to ask for help if needed. But what happens when the open mouth asked to be fed, and instead of receiving help they are forced to be demeaned by going through a rigorous process that assumes that all applicants fall in to the category of drug addicts? Guilty until proven innocent is the message conveyed to persons requesting these services. Millions of dollars are spent each year on federally funded programs that are considered “welfare”. The types of services these programs offer include TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), SNAP

"Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients: Pro." The Concordian. Ed. Mark Besonen. Concordian, 17 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.

David Vitter addresses the ongoing debate about whether or not drug testing should be required in order to receive welfare. Senator David Vitter states that all welfare recipients should be drug tested in order to ensure that only the families that deserve the money get it and to make sure that drug addicts get the help that they need. However, I believe that by drug testing this group of people, the government is

This paper will introduce the controversial topic of the 1996 Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients Act used as a provision for receiving social welfare benefits. First, it will present to you two opposing views from the Dominant American Social Value system. Second, it will present the insight of both Social Welfare perspectives that may have guided these decisions. Third, it will present to you the implications of possible negative impacts on the family due to drug testing as it relates to Social Welfare. Lastly, I will give you my personal perspective on why or why not the law surrounding Drug Testing Welfare Recipients is justifiable.

According to Pollack et al. (2002), “Substance abuse disorders among welfare recipients have attracted special concern among policymakers and the public” (pg. 24). It is not fair that some individuals are abusing illegal substances with American tax dollars. As a result, many policymakers and the general public are angry and demand a change in the system. There needs to be major changes that would require TANF recipients to submit to random drug testing, because scheduled drug testing can always be manipulated, and the government can save on money by cutting benefits to individuals who are abusing the

In today’s society, there are many controversial issues that surround the federal and state governments, in addition, the American populace. One such issue is the testing of Welfare recipients for the use of drugs in order to receive their Welfare benefits. While some individuals are for the idea of testing such recipients whether, from a moral, monetary, or personal standpoint, others may oppose them for the same or varied reasons. The average person pays significant percentages of their income in taxes to both the federal and state governments. Wouldn’t you like to know where exactly your money is headed and for what cause?

Most people believe that drug testing welfare applicants and recipients is necessary and saves the government and taxpayers’ money. However, the majority do not know that drug testing cost the government more than it saves. If you better understand that the method of drug testing has shown to be an extremely flawed method for tracking down abusers, that it does not

Drug testing welfare applicants shouldn’t be seen as a degrading process for the poor. In fact it is for them that this law has been made. When drug users are out of the picture, those who honestly need state aid would be identified. This way, we can all make sure that government money goes to those who really need it. After all, the government makes new laws year because we don’t live in a perfect world. If humanity were perfectly honest all the time, we wouldn’t even need a government. But because some people are actually prowling around like hungry lions, ready to take advantage of loopholes, we need to improve our laws to remain protected from abusers.

Have you ever thought what would happen if the people who receive government assistance had to be drug tested prior to receiving help, like many who must be tested to keep their job? Many people must go through drug testing to get a job, then after they have it, they may be selected to be randomly tested again to keep their job. There are people down on their luck or going through a rough patch where they need to receive government assistance, nothing but an application needs to be filled out prior to receiving payment from the government. Drug testing for government assistance and how it may benefit the state budget is at the forefront of many news stories. Types of government programs available for different assistance, laws causing

Another solution for drug testing welfare recipients is to try and sway away the public and generalization that all welfare recipients are drug abusers. With a little time and research, data can be gathered and looked over to see if there is indeed a problem with drugs and those on welfare. If the numbers do show that there indeed isn’t a problem with drug abuse, then this information needs to get out into the public and made known. Educating the population with factual numbers may possibly sway the publics’ opinion on welfare and drug

Requiring welfare recipients to stop using illegal drugs is a core element of reciprocal obligation. For example Florida’s policy of requiring drug testing for welfare applicants appears to have reduced new welfare enrollments by as much as 48 percent. Any serious effort to promote employment and self-sufficiency should include steps to eliminate illegal drug use among those on the Texas Medicaid

Drug testing welfare recipients has been hotly debated topic since the turn of the Twenty-first Century. Drug testing should be required for those who receive any type of government subsidy. Welfare, the government aid for the underprivileged, has become a prominent component of American society. Drug abuse has also become a large part of the American culture, and there is an immense number of these drug abusers living off of some type of welfare. Welfare recipients should be subject to mandatory drug testing to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent properly, to protect the wellbeing of children in homes receiving benefits, and to promote independence from government benefits.

Mandatory drug testing has been and ongoing controversial issue over the most recent years. Mandatory drug testing has been subjected to students, athletes, and employees all over the country. However a lot of speculation has been made whether or not welfare recipients in particular should be subjected to mandatory drug testing. According to Besonen, programs such as welfare were created in the 1930s to temporarily aid struggling Americans to help get them back up on their feet. (Besonen, 2014). Government assistance at that time also offered incredible medical benefits and this is also around time is when the “war on drugs” was declared. At the height of todays society, it is no longer temporary nor shot term. Some Americans have resorted to a long term dependance on governmental aid by means of survival in todays economy. Welfare Recipients must be held accountable for this “handout” from the government. Mandatory and random drug testing welfare recipients would serve its purpose in discouraging drug use in return for government incentive. This research paper will examine several aspects regarding mandatory and random drug testing of welfare recipients. First we will discuss the War on Drugs and how mandatory drug testing welfare recipients can serve within America, its drug addiction problem. Then we will look at mandatory and random drug testing from an economic point of view and decide whether or not the Fourth Amendment should apply. Finally we will

The first argument in favor of mandating drug tests towards welfare recipients is Robert Rector, a Senior Research Fellow in Domestic Policy at the Heritage Foundation. Robert Rector’s argument claims that, “Welfare Programs Should Promote Self-Sufficiency", meaning that the goal of tax dollar paid programs is to help people so that they eventually no longer need government assistance. Therefore, Rector believes that one way to do that is to make sure the recipients of these programs live as healthy as possible in order to continue the process towards no longer needing assistance. The author claims that those within welfare programs hold an obligation to their taxpayers to be as “self-sufficient” and independent as they can be.