Drug Testing for TANF Recipients

In 2010, 17.5% of unemployed adults collecting some sort of welfare failed drug tests. In 2011, 23.8% of welfare recipients admitted to using illegal drugs, including marijuana. The problem the United States if facing is that welfare recipients are using the cash they are given to purchase illegal drugs. Many of these people purchasing illegal drugs had prior illegal drug abuse problems and some of these people believe that since they are given this “free” money, they can continue on with these addictions instead of finding the help they need to get back onto their own two feet. Many employers ask all of their job applicants for a drug test to even be considered for the job, so why shouldn’t the government ask the same for people looking

The War on Drugs is one cause for the mass incarceration that has become apparent within the United States. This refers to a drastic amount of people being imprisoned for mainly non-violent crime (“Mass Incarceration” 2016). In addition to people who are not an immediate threat to society being locked up for a substantial duration of time, the economic consequences are costing states and taxpayers millions of dollars. Specifically, every one in five people incarcerated is in prison due to some

Many drug addicts do not have jobs or any legal means of generating income; they resolve to criminal activities such as theft, robbery, or aggressive panhandling. Due to the addictive nature of drugs, the user will be compelled to want more and more in order to continue feeling “normal”. It is what fuels their addiction and as a result, a lack of motivation to do anything other than obtaining more drugs. The drug addict’s family suffers from the effects of the drug addiction as well through emotional stress and psychological decay. Drug addicts also encourage illegal drug trafficking by helping fund criminal organizations. In fact, drug addicts are the reason why the billion dollar drug industry is as lucrative as it is. Without drug addicts, drug traffickers would have no customers or buyers to help generate income. Huge amounts of tax revenue is going towards the war on drugs which includes money going into police departments, border agencies, harm reduction programs, and anti-drug campaigns. The tax money being used to fight drugs could be used to better our education or health systems; instead it is being used to fund harm reduction programs such as Insite.

Substance abuse is a very widely known public epidemic in today's society. Many people are unfortunately plagued by this issue. According to Emedicinehealth.com (2012), “People abuse substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs for varied and complicated reasons, but it is clear that our society pays a significant cost,” (para. 1). People that are affected by substance abuse includes a very different range of people. Many that abuse the substances end up having health-related problems which in turn increases the need for health care. Other people that are affected by substance abuse are the family members and friends of the abusers because they have to deal with the person abusing the substances. Things that can be abused 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

Since the reformation of welfare in 1996, nearly all states have attempted to pass legislation to require the use of drug testing among welfare recipients. Thirteen states have passed legislation and there are currently seven states testing applicants for drugs. The results have been somewhat anticlimactic, as the number of positive drug test results is lower than the national average. There are many concerns surrounding the issue of drug testing welfare recipients, including the cost, constitutionality, and the effect on children.

There has been an ongoing controversy as to whether welfare recipients should have to have drug testing done. Drug testing will ensure that recipients will not abuse the money they’re given by the government. Having people on welfare take drug test is advantageous because it could save the system money, it would help social workers identify children who are around drug abuse, and it would deter people from purchasing and using illegal drugs; however, it does have a downside such as people who are on prescription medication will show false positives, it can be an invasion of privacy and drug testing can take hundreds and even thousands of dollars to administer.

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.

As far as Society plays into this, the high cost economically results from price of dealing with and treating distressed patients. Burdens resulting in an increase of support needed to take care of kids who can't become self supporting and greater demands for medical help are becoming a problem in our society.

Due to welfare recipients abusing their advantage, Tax payers want to drug test the users of welfare.

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

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.

Have you ever questioned the tax taken out of your hard-earned money? Questions similar to that are where the money is going and if it is being used properly. In the U.S. news recently those questions have been on a great deal of State’s minds; reaching back to 2003, this issue has been brought up time and time again. The main topic of tax money is the use of assistance money and are the recipients really using the money for the right reasons. There are many problems with the assistance program but the one that comes to mind the most is that many people abuse the money given to buy the essentials and provide, for their family for illegal drugs. The solution that many state representatives have come up with is drug testing as a requirement

Since the drug problem appears to be affecting communities and including the children of immigrants. The Obama Administration’s inaugural National Drug Control Strategy, published in 2001, charted a new course in in efforts to reduce illicit drug use and its consequences in the United States-an approach that rejects the false choice between an enforcement-centric “war on drugs” and drug legalization (The White House , 2014). Part of the policy includes to prevent drug abuse through education, to reform the criminal justice system, and to open rehabilitative programs for drug abusers. Furthermore, the Federal Government has spent more than $31 million on drug control (The White House , 2014). These amount has benefited those who have been drug abused and prevented drug traffickers from crossing the border.

Substance abuse and addiction have become a social problem that afflicts millions of individuals and disrupts the lives of their families and friends. Just one example reveals the extent of the problem: in the United States each year, more women and men die of smoking related lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined (Kola & Kruszynski, 2010). In addition to the personal impact of so much illness and early death, there are dire social costs: huge expenses for medical and social services; millions of hours lost in the workplace; elevated rates of crime associated with illicit drugs; and scores of children who are damaged by their parents’ substance abuse behavior (Lee, 2010). This paper will look at