Drug Testing: Should Welfare Be Mandatory?

After one year of receiving benefits, welfare recipients should be able to find employment and become self-sufficient without governmental assistance. Following one calendar year of receiving benefits, there is a reasonable suspicion that the recipient may be using drugs that hinder securing employment. A majority of employers drug test newly hired employees so it is not unreasonable to test those in assistance while they seek employment. That data collected from Florida’s failed attempt to drug test applicants does not accurately show the percentage of welfare recipients that abuse drug because many refused to take the tests while the law was in

The process of drug testing individuals who are applying or receiving welfare benefits has recently become the focus of a widely spread controversy. Florida, the first state to pass the law, now requires all individuals applying for public assistance to undergo drug testing. The state of Kentucky, among others, have considered following this trend. State lawmakers hope to prevent the squandering of taxpayer dollars on drugs by proposing similar guidelines. Alabama’s states representative Kerry Rich clearly affirmed his state’s position on the matter, “I don’t think the taxpayers should have to help fund somebody’s drug habit” (qtd. in Time).

People work and get paid and have to submit to drug test isn't public assistance a form of getting paid. Welfare recipients should be held to the same standard as everybody else in this regard. Another pro for this side of the argument is that by performing these tests and removing drug users from the welfare system, there is the potential of saving the state millions of dollars every year. By spending a small amount of money to test an applicant the state could save the money that would have been given to a drug user and give it to someone truly deserving. Some people would say that if someone that is a recipient of these assistance programs are using drugs would it not stand to reason that if they can afford to buy drugs that they could afford to live on their own and not take advantage of these government assistance

In his article, “Should Recipients Be Tested for Drugs?” David Vitter talks about the issue of drug testing people who are on welfare in the US. Vitter believes that annually drug-testing recipients of welfare will stop people from using the money to support their drug habits. He further believes that those who are using drugs and test positive as a result can then get the help that they need.

Over the past few years, there has been a lot of controversy over whether or not those who test positive for drugs should be able to receive welfare. It was an argument that flooded social media, arguments filling comments with opinions. It is a subject that continues to be discussed within our peer groups, our communities, and our states. This paper will discuss the opinions of individual’s within the country, the beneficial factors of drug testing welfare recipients as well as the unbeneficial factors, as well as who decides if drug testing welfare recipients goes into effect or not.

In today’s America, government aid is highly depended on. The US government has spent $498 billion dollars this year on welfare alone. The state of Tennessee has an average of 250,000 residents on welfare and has $3 billion dollars this year alone. To help cut costs and help tax payers, 36 states, including Tennessee, have proposed a bill to drug test all welfare recipients. Since the beginning of the year, the welfare rate has jumped 7 percent while at the same time, the welfare funds are drying up. Tennessee funds have dropped 17.5 percent, which comes out to be about $215.3 million dollars this year. State lawmakers have proposed that if drug users on welfare are

“If you have enough money to be able to buy drugs, then you don't need public assistance.” Said by Jerry Sonnenberg. For years now many people have wonder why the government doesn't do drug testing when applying for welfare. Many say it's not worth spending government money on, however if the government did do drug testing it could save the government money. I believe that drug testing welfare recipients would benefit our state in different ways. I feel that if the state was to make drug testing mandatory then it would help to prevent welfare fraud. Also it could possibly save the state money in paying out welfare payments. It could possibly weed out the people that

To test or not to test has been has been the question at hand for many states that are dealing with whether or not to pass the law that welfare recipients should or should not be drug tested in order to receive assistance from the government. Florida was the first state to mandate the law in 2011 and thereafter twenty four other states in the last year have also passed this law with our own state of Oklahoma being one of them. Although alcohol is legal it is abused far more than marijuana or hard core drugs, According to the 1996 study by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism the differences between the proportion of welfare and non-welfare recipients using illegal drugs are statistically insignificant. Although some states have decided to pass the law for welfare recipients in order receive government assistance, I believe it’s ineffective to drug test these welfare recipients in order to receive their benefits. Welfare in the United States commonly refers to the federal government welfare programs that have been put in place to assist the unemployed or underemployed. Help is extended to the poor through a variety of government welfare programs that include the Women, Infants, and Children Program which is referred to as WIC, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families commonly known as TANF and Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

The numbers do not lie—little evidence exists that supports the claim that drug testing recipients will save money. Striving to prove that the main source of the drug problem in the United States lies in the recipients of the welfare program, policymakers continue to work fervently. The overgeneralization of the poor as drug users has become common practice in Washington. Lawmakers seem to feel that because recipients receive government funding, they in turn give up their constitutional rights as U.S. citizens. The practice of criminalizing the poor has become commonplace in the creation of U.S. governmental policy.

Why do people that are working have to pass a drug test while those on welfare do not? This is the question that is causing a lot of debate across the country and throughout congress. Many working class Americans are outraged at the current welfare policies and believe something needs to change. There are always going to be people on government assistance who are abusing the system and who are using drugs while not working. Something needs to change so we can actually help families who need assistance, not those who are abusing drugs and the system. Therefor, I believe that states should require drug testing of all individuals on welfare since those who are supporting them have to pass a drug test.

From what was discovered most states that have mandatory testing in place have an earmarked fund to cover the expense of testing. In Florida, those applying for welfare assistance must pay for the cost of the drug test upfront, which is later reimbursed if they pass the test. Also, under the law, a person(s) that fails a test and does not enter a rehabilitation facility or seek counseling is automatically disqualified from going back on state welfare (Bloom, 2011). Although a lot of people feel that this law is unjust because the poorest of poor cannot afford to pay for a drug test and await reimbursement. Therefore, even those who are drug-free cannot get the help they desperately need. On the other hand, this should not be viewed as a punishment rather it is an attempt to save taxpayer’s dollars while at the same time will prove beneficial in helping those with a dependence on illegal chemicals to get the help they

Since the early War on Drugs and the welfare reform of the 1990s, those who receive public benefits have been under the microscope of drug warriors and policy makers. Those who are proponents of drug testing say that substance abuse and addiction can interfere with the ability to obtain or maintain jobs. Drug testing can help welfare recipients prepare for the job market by getting them clean and ready for the job application process (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), 2011). Drug use and abuse can also contribute to child abuse and neglect (Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), 2013). Testing welfare recipients can also be cost effective, as it would prevent the misuse of public funds for the purchase

Imagine taking the money you rightfully earned through hard work and countless hours spent at work and throwing it all away, using it on items that are essentially a waste of your money and time. Suppose I told you that this very problem is present in our very own state, city, and county. Currently welfare recipients are given your tax paying money for their own pleasure, pleasure meaning drugs rather than resources and ways to improve their lives and their means of living. In efforts to help this issue we must begin testing individuals who receive welfare for drugs. Welfare recipients should be required to be drug tested because it could lower the crime rate, lowering the use of drugs overall, and create efficient government spending.

The purpose of this research paper is to find out other’s opinion on whether or not to drug test welfare recipients. Even tho there is several types of welfare programs not all of them give the welfare recipients money but there is several welfare benefits that will give welfare recipients money. And one major issue we have in today's society is some people get welfare just to help benefit their drug addiction. So we decided to survey twenty people nine female and eleven male age eighteen are over so we can get a variety of answers. Out of all twenty survey participants they all agreed to one major answer. For a welfare recipients to continue or to receive welfare he/she must be drug tested at least once a month to receive welfare if he/she fails to pass that drug test they should be taken off welfare.

Consequently, many argue that requiring people that are already struggling to live and deny them aid, it would not help the drug user just the opposite. The truth is that the United States of America has a major drug problem, and if we require drug testing when applying for aid, it possibly will help the fight against drugs. By requiring welfare applicants and recipients drug testing, it would potentially give a motivation for drug users to retract and stop drug use. Applicant and recipients will worry that if they don’t pass the drug test they will not be eligible for government aid. That would motivate and get them the treatment needed to stop illegal drug use and get them on their feet. There is about 109,631,000 Americans living in households that are receiving federal welfare benefits as of the end of 2012. According to the Census Bureau that is about, 35.4 percent of all 309,467,000-people living in the United States at that time. Approximately 15 states have approved regulation regarding drug testing or screening for public assistance applicants or recipients some of the states include, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina etc. All fifty states should engage in screening for applicants and recipients in hopes of lowering misuse of benefits. Which would send a clear