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.
First and most important, the integrity of our welfare program should take on primary concern. Issuing out benefits to recipients who simply spend or trade a good portion of their monthly allotment on illegal drugs or alcohol has created an increase of able bodied adults who have become chemically dependent and unmotivated to look for work. From my personal observation, a welfare recipient who is addicted to illegal drugs or alcohol will continue to use their
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benefits to maintain an addiction at the expense of our taxpayer and government. In my first person survey, 6 out of 10 people agreed that a required drug screening should be implemented in order to receive any public assistance benefits. Next, the cost of drug screening every single applicant who applies for welfare has decreased.
Drug testing kits have become relatively inexpensive over the last few years due to our increased imports from China. The annual savings of promoting good health by screening out a drug addicted applicant is substantial when comparing the difference in taxpayer money that was lost after a recipient misused their benefits to support a chemical addiction. After a welfare recipient passes an initial drug screening and receives their electronic benefit card, the food stamp account should be monitored monthly to verify nutritious foods are being bought. Buying nutritious foods instead of selling or trading food stamps for illegal drugs or alcohol promotes the overall health of a mind and body. A healthy mind and body then creates an individual who makes adequate progress in their daily
life. Finally, the accountability of taxpayer money is important when money is spent to fund a chemically dependent welfare recipient. Every hard working, tax paying citizen should be concerned with the character of an individual who is receiving public benefits. To solve accountability, a team of specialist should be created to reconcile monthly expenditures. I believe removing the ability to withdraw cash at an automated teller machine and switching the debit card to a credit only system would take currency out of the equation and provide a detailed record of how the beneficiary has spent their cash benefit. I understand that people need to survive after they have no other resources left to use. I also realize that some of you feel that drug testing an applicant is a direct violation of our fourth amendment in the U.S. Constitution. But with a lack of new job creation and employers not hiring, able bodied adults now have an exuberant amount of free time to consume alcohol and potentially turn to the use of illegal drugs. When benefits are used to maintain an addiction, a dependency strikes twice after an individual has become dependent on welfare benefits to maintain a chemical dependency. The time to reform our welfare benefit programs is long overdue because misuse of our public assistance programs has created a nation that has become dependent on welfare to support a chemical dependency. I hope you will join me and stop the continued abuse of our welfare program by filtering out people who are abusing our public assistance programs. Keep this thought in mind while coming to your decision. When you applied for a job, didn't you have to take a drug test in order to gain employment?
Have you ever questioned the tax taken out of your hard-earned money? Questions similar to that are where the money is going and if it is being used properly. In the U.S. news recently those questions have been on a great deal of State’s minds; reaching back to 2003, this issue has been brought up time and time again. The main topic of tax money is the use of assistance money and are the recipients really using the money for the right reasons. There are many problems with the assistance program but the one that comes to mind the most is that many people abuse the money given to buy the essentials and provide, for their family for illegal drugs. The solution that many state representatives have come up with is drug testing as a requirement for assistance. This will eliminate the abuse of the assistance program; also it will cut down the cost of assistance which is very expensive as a whole.
, 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 has been many cases of fraud that people have lied about housing and unemployment. This leads to questionable debate whether recipients should be drug tested or not. In North Carolina a law has been passes for all of the recipients getting assistance must be drug tested. (Parker 1) “For example, according to The Associated Press, Utah saved $350,000 in its first year of drug-screening welfare applicants, though it found only about 12 people who tested positive” (Parker 1). Many states have questioned this new law to be passed or not because it may save the government money in the long run.
“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 on treating drug habits. 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.
It is a commonly known fact that a large percentage of Americans are living on and relying on welfare, which is a government program that provides financial aid to individuals or groups of people who cannot support themselves. Welfare began in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. There are several types of assistance offered by the government, which include healthcare, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment, cash aid, and housing assistance. The type of welfare and amounts given depend on the individual, and how many children they have. There are many people who honestly need the government assistance, but there are also many who abuse the privilege.
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.
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.
By implementing a policy change to require drug-testing to recipients in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would be beneficial to clients in a clinical setting. For example, evidence has shown that drug testing has the potential to reduce unnecessary government spending and misuse of funds.
Meth, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin are among the top drugs that many people use and utilized as money making tactics. As we all know, drugs are found and they are heavily used in low income areas, not only do they pose a significant effect on one’s health but they pose a significant effect on our economy. Generally it is perceived that those who reside in low income areas are the ones who resort to drugs, evidently they are. Likewise, they are also the ones who are assumed to be enlisted on government assistance programs. Some of these programs include; health care, child care, ebt benefits, and even housing assistance programs. So the substantial question is “Should people who receive government assistance undergo drug tests?”
Being raised in a single-parent lower class home, I realize first-hand the need for welfare and government assistance programs. I also realize that the system is very complex and can become a crutch to people who become dependent and complacent. As a liberal American I do believe that the government should provide services to the less fortunate and resources to find work. However, as able-bodied citizens we should not become complacent with collecting benefits and it is the government’s job to identify people who take advantage of the system and strip benefits from people who are not making efforts to support themselves independently. I will identify errors that exist within the welfare system and several policy recommendations to implement a change that will counteract the negative conditions that currently exist.
The drug control policy of the United States has always been a subject of debate. From Prohibition in the early 1930’s to the current debate over the legalization of marijuana, drugs have always been near the top of the government’s agenda. Drug use affects every part of our society. It strains our economy, our healthcare, our criminal justice systems, and it endangers the futures of young people. In order to support a public health approach to drug control, the Obama administration has committed over $10 billion to drug education programs and support for expanding access to drug treatment for addicts (Office). The United States should commit more government resources to protect against illegal use of drugs by youths and provide help for recovering addicts.
The welfare system in the United States has had many problems arise in recent years and there has been nothing done to try and fix these issues. Welfare is supposed to be a financial boost for people who are struggling to survive by themselves. However, there are many people trying to take advantage of the system and use the money provided by the government for certain items that are not necessary to live. The other major problem is with the inefficient government that is so divided ideologically that nothing has been done to repair the system because both parties believe that their ideas are more effective than the others. In order to resolve the ongoing dispute of the welfare system, changes to the process of screening recipients and how the government conducts changes to the system have to be made.
Substance abuse is an issue that plays a major social problem in society, the effect of drugs on families and communities is destructive. This paper will discuss evidence showing how substance abuse is a specific social problem that is widespread, and is affecting every level of our judicial system. Many people turn to drugs for many different reasons, they will try just about anything to relieve the pain. In our society today many people go through devastating experiences in their life. Furthermore people turn to drugs to mask the horrible memories and find relief. Drugs can temporarily relieve the symptoms of angry, loneliness or boredom, but it may be a temporary fix to an individual problems. They may
Drugs are something that has been prevalent in our society for many decades now. It seems that as our population continue to grow, drugs seem to continue to have a major impact throughout our society, then used by drug seem to have been influenced by many things, either through social or cultural factors and it have affected people in many different ways such as their behavior, their attitude and just basically their livelihood. Today our society is deeply infected with the issue of drugs, we look around our society and we see young kids are being consume by drugs, we see workers, and executive people are also being consumed by drugs. Drugs continue to play a huge role in our society because while most people
The use of illegal drugs in the United States and other countries around the world is one of the biggest problems in today community. Illegal drugs are drugs that are restricted by the government. Moreover, some medical drugs have chemicals that can help people with pain and stress. But when people are under the influence of illicit drugs, they can experience many side effects such as: liver cancer, heart, and brain disease. Illegal drugs are being used by many types of people around the world; they cost a large amount of money and negatively affect people both psychologically and physically.