Mandatory Drug Testing Should Be Banned

United States lawmakers face one of the most pressing issues of our time-welfare reform. New screening processes, often considered a direct violation of constitutional rights, have already been enacted in many states. Strong evidence exists, asserting that the practice of administering drug testing to welfare recipients will cost the U.S. taxpayers more money in the long run, stigmatize applicants and participants, and serve only the purpose of making the pharmaceutical companies more powerful. In order to protect the constitutional rights of potential welfare recipients, United States lawmakers should avoid further criminalizing the poor by submitting them to drug testing and/or a

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.

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

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.

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.

Living day to day throughout our country, many people receive government assistance in order to meet the basic necessities needed in life. These people are provided with benefits because of the many assistance programs that have been created to help the citizens of the United States. However, people are beginning to notice that there are many recipients that use the money for things other than living essentials. This is a big problem in the eyes of the tax payers because they see people who are on welfare take their money and buy drugs with it. This has raised the question, should the government drug test welfare recipients? Due to the increase of government assistance programs being abused, welfare recipients should be drug tested because

Florida's policy of requiring drug testing for welfare applicants appears to have reduced new welfare enrollments by as much as 48 percent. Welfare recipients in Florida now will have to undergo screening for illegal drug use. “Gov. Rick Scott says will ‘increase personal accountability and prevent Florida's tax dollars from subsidizing drug addiction.’”(Florida to drug-test welfare recipients) It starts on July 1, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services is required to conduct the drug tests on adults applying for assistance. The aid recipients would be responsible for the cost of the screening, which they would reimburse in their assistance if they qualify. Parents who fail the drug test may assign another individual to receive the benefits on behalf of the children. Although drug testing in Florida has been shut down because the judge says it goes against Americans rights from unreasonable searches. Some supporters say that you need to be drug free to prepare them for jobs anyways and that business have been requiring these drug test for years. They also say that the government so take these extra precautions to ensure that tax payers money doesn’t

This paper will explore the pros and cons on the issue of drug testing welfare recipients and applicants. The journals and articles used to determine whether drug testing is necessary or a hindrance to public assistance applicants, recipients and the government vary in their argument on the effects of those who receive assistance. The study, completed by Anderson, Shannon, Schyb and Goldstein (2002) determined that, due to the change in Welfare reform in 1996, the disruption of benefits increased the risk homelessness and usage of drugs and alcohol. Montoya, Bell, Atkinson, Nagy and Whitsett (2002) studied the differences in 442 female welfare recipients’ psychological and employment well-being based on chronic use or non-drug usage. Morgenstern and Blanchard (2006) argue that the changes in welfare reform may significantly reduce the amount of drug using recipients and applicants on welfare and increase in substance abuse programs. This paper will examine statistical data, recommendations by the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights and the studies of Anderson et al. (2002), Montoya et al.(2002), and Morgenstern et al.(2006) to bring to light the varying conclusions made over the last 13 years, 2002-2015, as to the effectiveness and ineffectiveness that drug testing may have on welfare recipients and applicants.

109,631,000 Americans receive benefits from one or more federal funded programs. Throughout this project, I will be talking about different subjects related to government assistance. I will be referring to the new subject being recently talked about here in Wisconsin, drug testing welfare recipients. I also will be talking about the good and bad in government assistance, that relates back to government assistance abuse. When talking about abuse in government assistance, additionally will be talking about better monitoring in certain situations. Many thoughts go through everyday taxpayers on why they should be the ones paying for others to get help, especially when individuals do not have an idea about getting a job to get back on their feet.

Welfare is a system of assistance that needs certain procedures put into place that will be beneficial to those people that use the program. Drug testing users of the welfare program can be seen as a violation of a person’s rights, can be costly and cause a burden on a family that uses the system mostly involving children, but some people feel is necessary to ensure that the government’s money is being used productively.

Public welfare is the term which stands for the variety of tax-supported programs that provide cash assistance or services to residents who are not able to financially take care of themselves (Hansan, 2011). This program was started in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. There are several types of welfare including health care, food stamps, child care assistance, cash aid, and housing assistance. Medicaid is considered to be one of the welfare programs; it is a medical care that provides cash income assistance for the poor (“Medicaid”, 2002). Recipients must meet multiple requirements that are established prior to receiving aid. The requirements include low income, child dependency, family size, and any crisis situation such as pregnancy, unemployment, and medical emergencies (Welfare Information, n.d.). As of today, some states require welfare recipients to get drug tested when applying for financial benefits. Arguments arose whether the test should take place or not. Many people believe that the government should not drug test welfare recipients because unpleasant consequences occur. Not only does drug testing recipients create chaos in the U.S. bureaucratic system, it also labels the recipients, creating stigma and deviance especially if the test comes out positive. Welfare recipients are being discriminated by society and this may lead to knowledge gaps between the underclass and other social classes which creates a caste system. Many negative effects take place as