Essay Against Drug Testing

When dealing with this we come to many road blocks. We should know and understand the difference in a drug use problem and a psychiatric disorder. Also understanding the difference in substance abuse and substance dependence. Confusing the two could be an issue. When you decide to drug test the welfare there is much more that needs to go into it than just the test to determine if you should receive benefits from the state or not. Think about the rights we have as Americans have. Drug testing the welfare can bring legal problems, such as due process. There have been states who have tried this in the past but of

Drug Testing Welfare Recipients 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 in 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. Drug testing welfare recipients is negative because drug tests performed on welfare

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

The welfare system is designed to support those that are in need. The welfare system should not be abused or misused and failure to comply will be grounds for termination. Drug testing welfare recipients, is it an infringement of rights and should it be mandatory for everyone that receiving or will receive assistance? This subject is up for debate as to whether or not it violates welfare recipient’s constitutional rights. If it should be implemented, would it help saving tax dollars and government spending and stop welfare

The main argument for those who want this drug testing to take place is that it would save taxpayers money (Miran, 2015). They feel that by drug testing applicants and/or receivers of welfare, they will weed out those who are drug abusers. That being said, their money wouldn’t be ‘wasted’ on those who ‘don’t deserve it’. They also somehow feel that if this policy were put into place, people wouldn’t abuse drugs. They

The United States has many welfare programs, such a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), that provide social welfare payments to those in need. Welfare recipients statistically have a higher potential to use illicit drugs, making it more difficult to secure a job. Often, these benefits are abused by drug users those who lack the ability or motivation to find employment and become self-sufficient. Incorporating drug testing into the welfare systems allows the government to provide those with drug addictions the needed treatment and suspend the benefits from those who continue to use drug and test positive after treatment. In the long run, there will be a costs savings

The article, “States Adding Drug Test as Hurdle for Welfare” stated that in three dozen sates proposed drug testing for the people that are on welfare. However, people say that the tax dollars given to them are not being misused and that it’s promoting stereotypes about the poor. the article says that in Florida, people that receive welfare have to pay for their own drug tests. Also, it says that people argued that it was unreasonable to drug test those on welfare and that it was an act of search and seizure. It’s noted that drug tests are getting more and more required for getting jobs. Ellen Brandom, a state representative in Missouri said, “Working people today work very hard to make ends meet, and it just doesn’t seem fair to them that

While it is true that there are some jobs that do require a drug test prior to employment, the employees have a choice in the matter. If they do not wish to take a drug test, or if they fail the test, they can choose to find another job. However, by making it mandatory that welfare recipients be drug tested, they do not have a choice. If welfare recipients fail a drug test or refuse to take it, they don’t have the option to find another government to get the assistance that they need. Most welfare recipients are in need of public assistance due to situations that they cannot control. For example, if a single mother of three kids gets laid off due to the harsh economy, at some point, she has no other choice but to ask for help. Eventually, she may have to utilize public assistance that the government has put in place such as food stamps, Medicaid, or welfare. If the government makes drug testing mandatory, the single mother of three has only one choice to make—do whatever the government requires to feed

When the United States’ welfare program was created during the Great Depression, it was meant to temporarily relieve the burdens of the one-fourth of American families who were unemployed, and struggling financially. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Social Security Act in 1935, then amended it in 1939 to create programs to assist families with unemployment compensation, and to create government agencies to oversee these programs, including Health and Human Services. The purpose of the welfare program was to provide short-term assistance to families in need while they got back on their feet, and found new employment. It was and is still funded by the hard-earned money of American taxpayers. Since that time, government assistance programs have progressed to the point of serving 49.2 percent of the population according to 2011 statistics, released in 2014.7 Of those receiving benefits, approximately 20 percent have been on the program for over five years. These facts go against the initial purpose of the welfare program as a temporary crutch. Studies have shown that about 20 percent of welfare recipients have tested for, or reported illicit drug use (although, those numbers vary and can be higher, based on the testing method used). Taxpayers should be aware that their taxes are funding these drug users’ illegal lifestyles. Therefore, drug testing should be a mandatory

Since its conception welfare has been a source of continuous controversy. The main negative throughout the years has been that people on welfare will never attempt to find a job and just live off the government, but recently there has been a lot of attention brought specifically to the recipients that are drug abusers. Therefore, some taxpayers are calling for a system in which recipients are drug tested prior to receiving aid, but these systems are strongly opposed by those who are current members of welfare.

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.

If we drug test welfare recipients and they come up as a drug user we can cancel their welfare therefore we will save money because we no longer have to pay for them. With use drug testing welfare recipients we could also stop the use of drugs. That is only a few positives let's go over a couple negatives. Drug testing everyone who is on welfare can cost a lot of money so some may say are we actually saving money if we drug test them? Another negative is some drug users get welfare to also help their kid so if we take welfare away from the adult we are also taking away from the

One of the many goals of the American Welfare System is to provide financial assistance to U.S citizens who are unable to support themselves. Government funds are provided in hopes that many of these able bodied citizens will eventually find a way to become financially independent and economically productive. However, there is a percentage of welfare recipients that use their government funding to purchase and abuse illicit drugs. When welfare is abused in this manner, the system loses credibility and the long-term goals of seeing financially self-sufficient citizens, and economic progress on both micro and macro levels, are not only compromised, they are regressed by the negative impacts of illegal drug use. The most common (and commonly debated) method of weeding out citizens who choose to abuse the welfare system is enforcing mandatory drug testing on all welfare recipients. This method is an ongoing controversy involving elements of legality, economics, budget analysis, a violation of rights, the allocation of government funds, and discriminatory stereotypes of welfare recipients. Regardless of the diverse array of fundamental complexities involved with executing or rejecting this preventative procedure, most Americans’ opinions are simply based

In today’s society about 12,800,000 people are supported by government welfare programs for help with their financial necessities. The argument everyone is making nowadays, is whether or not they should be drug testing recipients of welfare. I agree with this strongly because I know that if I were paying taxes on this program I would not want someone going out and abusing this privilege on drugs. People collecting welfare, or other government assistance, should be drug tested because if they are just going to spend money on drugs, they do not need help.