Pros And Cons Of Welfare Drug Testing

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

Pretend you are in kindergarten again and you have just won your favorite bag of candy for behaving yourself in class all week, and right when the teacher presents you with your glorious prize a fellow classmate, which had already been to the principals twice that week, comes up and asks for a piece. You do not want to give him a piece because you worked hard for it and he broke the rules so he does not deserve it, but then he goes to complain to the teacher and she says you have to share with him. Would you be upset if you worked hard to obey the rules to win a bag of candy, and then you find out that you could have gotten a piece anyways? This is exactly how many taxpayers feel about welfare recipients that refuse to take drug test prior to receiving their welfare checks. Since 1996 there has been a call for welfare reform to drug test recipients prior to admission, but any attempts have been unsuccessful because they are viewed as a violation of the fourth amendment, more harmful for children, and an unnecessary expense. These common fallacies have been the main arguments leading the anti-drug testing campaign, but in the past few years many taxpayers have grown increasingly tired of their money being given to undeserving individuals, although there has not been a clear solution to please all parties.

Welfare is for people who don’t have enough income to live off of and is supposed to be for helping them out with things like food, clothing, and most basic necessities. 61% of people not on welfare are against it and believe people who receive welfare don’t use it for the intended reason and basically look at it as free money. There is 21.3% of the population on government assist. That’s approximately 52.2 million peaple participating in it right now. They get food stamps from the govt and sell them to buy drugs or alcohol which is probably the reason they are on it in the first place. If they did a drug test beforehand, then they would know to not accept that person because the money more than likely would only buy them their next high; therefore, welfare recipients should receive drug tests before being accepted.

People collecting welfare should undergo drug testing to get the money the government is giving them, because it makes welfare applicants go down at least 48 percent, it also will help the national debt go down and help people with their drug problems. There are many benefits of drug testing welfare recipients.

The topic of mandating regular drug testing for those on welfare is very controversial. It seems too one-sided to say that those who do drugs are the only people who should not be allowed welfare. There are many other ways that people might abuse their need of welfare money in illegal and unethical ways. Also, with the ever-increasing demand for welfare it seems more cost prohibitive to conduct regular drug testing on those who receive welfare. There is also the possibility of the drug test being compromised or destroyed due to human corruption. Instead, we should put more focus on the advancement and use of technology to monitor how welfare money is being used.

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.

Many people may agree that drug testing people who are on or will become welfare is a great way to stop misuse of the system. Drug testing is one way to accomplish this, and their reasoning may be well founded.

“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

Even with an undeniable populist appeal to drug testing when it comes anyone wanting to receive government benefits that come out of Americans tax dollars, there are several negatives to this claim. Such as it’s likely to be unconstitutional, and the stereotyping of people using the welfare program. Drug testing can be considered to be unconstitutional under the fourth amendment which is a ban on

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

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).

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

You would think that with them drug testing these welfare recipients that they would catch more drug users, well that isn’t the case. The state of Tennessee is a prime example why the test isn’t effective at all, with them posting poor results. A year after the state started to test applicants for a welfare program, they ended up denying 30 people out of the 28,599 people who applied. This goes to show that they can’t find the people who are actually using the money they get from the welfare programs for the use of

The Aid of welfare is important to society for those considered financially unstable. According to the United Stated Department of Human Services, there are over 12 million citizen receiving welfare. The states of Alabama, Mississippi,Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin require drug testing in order to receive welfare. Drug testing is not an effective way to detect drug use because many have found ways to get pass the testing. As we know welfare is supposedly to meet the human’s needs but not for the purchase and use of drugs. Some says that drug test to receive assistance is unconstitutional and unfair, others believe it would be safe if child with parent who uses drugs. By randomly drug testing, those who receive assistance would help deter drug use, decrease unemployment rate, and potential savings for taxpayers.

I believe that people who receive welfare or any government funded program should be obligated to take drug test because if they continue to take drugs while receiving welfare then they are just taking advantage of the system. If the government enforce a law for mandatory drug testing to welfare recipient then possibly millions of tax payer’s money will go to those who don’t deserve as much as