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.
Drug testing the people on welfare is beneficial because those who are on drugs would no longer receive welfare allowing the system to save money. (Carpenter 1) With more than billions of dollars of government funds possibly ending up in the wrong places or spent treating drug habits, the least that can be done is to make sure money is being put in the right hands. “Every dollar that is fed to a welfare recipient’s drug habit is a dollar lost to a family that would have spent it on needed items.” (Vitter 2) Taxpayers money should not be spent to treat drug habits. (1) Some states are having to tighten welfare eligibility to deal with limited state budgets. drug testing would better yet inform the government who is abusing the system. Drug testing can use up to hundreds or possibly thousands a month wasted on drugs, not only is it dangerous for their well being, but it does harm to the economy as we build up further and further into debt. Once one state passes a law to drug test it sends a message to other states and makes sense for other states to pass the same law. this...
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...on drug testing. With so many people getting involved with this situation this will assure the governments decision. Now its up to government officials to make the correct decision and forget about drug testing welfare recipients.
Works Cited
Carpenter, Rachel. Should Welfare or Public Assistance Recipients Be Drug Tested? 28 Apr. 2010.
Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
Magoon, Kekla. The Welfare Debate. Edina: ABDO Publishing Company. 2009. Print.
Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested for Drugs? U.S News & World Report. 2014: Pgs 1-2.
Magazine.
Vitter, David. Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested for Drugs? 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Walters, Jonathan. Should Welfare Recipients Be Drug Tested? 13 March 2012. Web. 8 Jan. 2014
Welfare Recipients Are Actually Most Likely White and Less Likely Than The Average American to Use Drugs. 11 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
With more and more people becoming unemployed and applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), it is imperative that we understand the benefits as well as problems this causes. Even while researching this topic and talking to some of my family and friends about it, it surprised me the amount of those who do not understand food stamps. Coming from the SNAP website, “Food stamps offer nutritional assistance to millions of eligible low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities” (United States). This program helps millions of people per year and gives upwards of $75 billion and rising. With the prices of food increasing due to inflation, beneficiaries are receiving around $400 at most per month. Using the Electronic benefit transfer systems (EBT), beneficiaries can buy goods from a grocery store using a credit-card like transaction, which takes the money off of their card. The benefits are received monthly on a specific date and vary in amounts from person to person. One family may receive $300 per month because they have three kids and need the extra money, while another may receive $100 or less depending on financial status. The application process includes completing and filing an application form, being interviewed, and verifying facts crucial to determining eligibility. In the past, these applications did not require a drug screening to get benefits, but more and more states are adopting this. There are many drawbacks to SNAP as well such as taking money from working people’s paychecks every week and people abusing the system. Talking about a very opinionated subject, we must remove bias and answer whether or not the Food Stamp system should be limited.
"States Consider Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients." FoxNews.com - Breaking News | Latest News | Current News. 26 March 2009. Web. 31 January 2011
, implying that because they are poor, they must be drug addicts. However, individuals that support the law, express that the plan being put in effect is to ensure that tax payer’s money isn’t being thrown away on people who only plan to abuse this assistance. Out of the fifty states, only nine have proceeded with the drug testing of candidates. The drug testing has proven to be quite expensive. Consequently, some of the states only test subjects with whom they find suspicion, or that have admitted to drug use in the past. Though the proposal of drug testing Welfare applicants appears to be a good idea to weed out spongers from getting assistance, it seems that more money may be wasted on the testing itself, which would be imprudent in proving this law worthwhile.
There is an ongoing debate over whether or not welfare recipients should be drug tested to receive the benefits. Both sides of the argument have merit. Those who oppose the idea of drug testing say that it is unconstitutional and violates the Fourth Amendment. Furthermore, they claim that this law stereotypes and discriminates against those from low socioeconomic demographics, implying that because they are poor, they must be drug addicts. However, those who support the law note that its intended purpose is to ensure that taxpayer money is not being squandered on people who only plan to abuse this assistance. Only nine states so far have instituted drug testing of candidates for welfare assistance. This drug testing has proven to be prohibitively expensive in many cases. Consequently, some states only test subjects with whom they find suspicion, or who have admitted to past drug use. Though proposed drug testing of welfare applicants initially appears to be a good idea to eliminate potential abusers of the system from receiving assistance, it appears that even more money may be wasted on the testing process, which negates the savings that are the primary objective of the law.
“Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested for Drugs?” Debate Club, U.S News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-welfare-recipients-be-tested-for-drugs
The issue that I have decided to address is welfare abuse. I propose that due to the government’s lack of foresight, welfare recipients have been cashing EBT benefits at ATM machines in California casino’s.
On 30 January 2011, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill and sent it to the senate that would require drug testing for those receiving state Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) funds. Funding from food stamps, medicare, and public housing would not be affected by this bill (Keller – House). According to Columbia Tribune reporter Rudi Keller, the bill is very similar to the Arizona law which is the only other state that tests welfare recipients. Missouri and Arizona would use a questionare and interview which would determine which applicants to test. The two states are also similar in their caseload of 45,017 people on assistance in Arizona and 42,885 in Missouri. The state would not be obligated to provide treatment for those that fail. Also, children would be protected because the money would be given to them by a third party in the event that their head of household tests positive (Keller- Arizona). According to the Columbia Tribune, TANF is a five year maximum support benefit for people who are attempting to find a job or gain employment skills. The maximum TANF payment is $292 dollars a month with the head of household portion being $58 (Keller- House). The issue of drug testing those on welfare goes back to 1996 with the welfare reform act authorized, but did not require, states to impose mandatory drug testing as a prerequisite to receiving state welfare assistance (Drug Testing).
Moore, L. D., & Elkavich, A. (2008). Who's Using and Who's Doing Time: Incarceration, the War on Drugs, and Public Health. American Journal Of Public Health, 98(5), 782-786.
Many of us have heard cases of welfare recipients who have taken advantage of the welfare state system. As a result many of us believe welfare is a bad thing in our society. Like I previously stated welfare is more than just receiving free money, welfare was created to level the playing field for those who have had disadvantages in life. The traditional welfare as we know is cash-aid and this affects recipients in our community because it provides job programs for those who have previously lost their jobs. If approved, the fifteen page application provides recipients with more or less of three hundred dollars a month to pay for rent. Not only ...
Drug use now in days has grown more over these past years, with the abuse of drugs many people still have the privilege to apply freely to the welfare programs such as WIC, Food Stamps, and TANF. My interest to this topic is why it would be unconstitutional to be able to do a drug testing on welfare applicants.
The ultimate goal with distributing welfare is that it is used for essential needs not for drugs; the tax payers do not work to have their hard earned money spent on drugs. Having these welfare recipients submit to a drug test would also cost the tax payers but only if the test comes back negative. When the recipients take the test they pay for it and are reimbursed if it comes back negative but if it comes back positive there is no refund and they are automatically removed from the program for a year. This ensures that the welfare recipients are not using their government issued checks for drugs and will ease the minds of the tax payers. Ensuring that tax payers’ mon...
Can we continue to support individuals who abuse their welfare benefits? The public assistance programs that were created in the United States of America during the 1930’s to provide a safety net for people living below the federal poverty line are being manipulated. Chemical dependency screenings and monthly account audits are currently needed to prevent wasteful spending to support welfare recipients who are using their benefits to purchase illegal drugs and alcohol. I believe drug testing applicants who apply for welfare should become mandatory to strengthen the integrity, accountability, and future health of America.
There have been many debates on whether or not welfare is a good thing. Welfare is a great system for those who are in need of it, but there are many people on welfare who don’t need it. A lot of people cheat the welfare system and this needs to be stopped. Welfare should enforce stricter policies, where you are only allowed to be on welfare for a certain amount of time, unless you have a disability that keeps you from working. This will help our economy grow by decreasing the unemployment rate and have more money to
...ld welfare services: Finding from the illinois alcohol and other drug abuse waiver demonstration. Social Work Research, 30(2), 95-107. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&sid=54392cc5-0150-4def-89f7-b43309bb775f%40sessionmgr198&hid=114&bdata=JmxvZ2luLmFzcCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU%3d#db=aph&AN=21647558
More than half of the states are considering drug-test requirements for people on welfare. Not only would this help save money in the welfare program, it would also allow the government to get help for drug users on public assistance. The tests could either be urine based, or written tests that could help flag down drug users (Grovum). According to Jake Grovum’s article “Some States Still Pushing Drug Testing for Welfare”, Alabama may have come up with the most sensible law. The law, which has passed in their state senate, states that anyone who has been convicted of a drug offense in the last five years must undergo, and pay for, a drug test as a part of their welfare application. I am aware that not all people on welfare are using drugs and many former drug users get the help they need and get off their addiction, but I think taxpayers in the U.S. have the right of knowing their hard earned money is going to the right