Essay On Welfare Drug Testing

Is it fair that in order to obtain a job, some people go through drug testing while drug and alcohol abusers receive free, no strings attached, financial assistance (see appendix A)? Food stamps and Medicaid are provided to low and no income Americans who would otherwise do without. According to heritage.org, a majority of the illegal drug use in American adults is tied to unemployed citizens. While there are many people who disagree with testing welfare recipients, the truth is that the pros greatly outweigh the cons. The long term improvements that drug testing will have on the country are substantial. The wellbeing and stability of America’s children, unemployment, fairness across the board for all Americans and the economy; all play

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).

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

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

This proposal points out how Texas should adopt drug testing policy for welfare recipients. We researched the state of Oklahoma, its efforts to improve its well-being, the decreased amount of welfare recipients received while increasing employment and the welfare program abilities. Texas is currently reopening this Bill and reconsidering this proposal for drug testing all welfare recipients. This will allow all of Texas welfare recipient’s access to different programs for personal improvement, job opportunists and economic growth.

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

By drug testing, those who receive welfare are being stereotyped. For example, society is now looking at welfare recipients

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.

As I worked on the controversial idea of drug testing welfare recipients, the most important thing I leaned is that Kline and colleagues surveyed substance use among a representative sample of welfare recipients in New Jersey. They found that 12 percent admitted that they used cocaine, but 25 percent tested positive for cocaine use based on hair sample analyses. Now that I know that, I can better understand the larger issue that the drug epidemic is monumental in the United States, and unfortunately we can not simply take peoples word on if they are using or

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 Lombardo says, “Many people need to be drug tested in order to have gainful employment and a regular paycheck. If it is a normal part of life for the vast majority of a country’s population, then the system of testing is already in place to add welfare recipients into the regular testing cycle.” Every year local, state, and national government programs offer low-income households the opportunity to make impoverished peoples needs to be met. These welfare systems have a 3% abuse rate where recipients use their benefits for alcohol and illicit drugs. To maintain compliance with program regulations, drug testing would have to be in the

There have been a few proposals for drug testing Congressman, but those proposals have never made it to the floor of the U.S. Congress. In contrast, some states require welfare recipients to pass drug tests. Obviously, the issues of drug testing and welfare have some clear underlying connotations. Yet, contrary to the “welfare queen” caricature, the results show that very few welfare recipients test positive for drugs, far below the national average. In fact, the average was well below 1% in most states. Consequently, the costs for operating these testing programs are higher than the savings. Nonetheless, Oklahoma lawmakers drafted a bill in 2012 to drug test welfare recipients, including a provision with drug tests for lawmakers. Ultimately, the welfare drug testing bill passed, but the provision for testing politicians was removed before it passed. Likewise, Florida nearly passed a similar law in 2012 that would have required all government employees, except state lawmakers, to pass random drug tests. That exemption wasn’t a moot point as Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL), who had voted for drug testing welfare recipients, was arrested in 2013 for cocaine