Mar

26

Random Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients

March 26, 2009 |  Tagged , , | 1 Comment

West Virginia, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Hawaii, Florida, Minnesota, Arizona

Eight U.S. States, these States legislators have begun something that may need to be brought before every state in the union. Random drug testing for people receiving welfare benefits is what I heard this morning on 99.7 WTN with Ralph Bristol.

Let’s take a look at the pro’s and con’s of this policy:

  • Some proponents favor the drug testing because of concern for the peoples health and ability to get back on their feet when the economy turns around. Other proponents site the need to reduce the strain on state budgets with the increase in people receiving welfare. The West Virginia Legislator Craig Blair (R) also said “If so many jobs require random drug tests these days, why not these benefits?” One other thing that proponents want to tell welfare recipients is that you don’t get something for free.
  • Opponents of drug testing policy feel that this is not the right time to bring this policy up because of the economic problems. Here is a quote from Ron Haskins, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, “People who are unemployed, who have lost their job, that’s a sympathetic group. Americans are tuned into that, because they’re worried they’ll be next.” Poverty and civil liberties advocates (liberal ACLU) fear the strategy could backfire, discouraging some people from seeking financial aid and making already desperate situations worse.

Now, in my opinion the policy of random drug testing will be a good policy, if it is set up properly, to help get welfare recipients on their own faster. The opponents feelings on this policy would only be an issue for those people who are using drugs. For people that are clean, they have no reason to worry about this policy. People who are receiving tax payer money to help their families should be subject to random drug tests.

The policy would be good if it had the following conditions:

  1. The testing should be done once a year.
  2. A positive test would not result in criminal prosecution.
  3. A positive test would result in the lose of welfare benefits for 6 months.
  4. After 6 months, they can submit to another drug test.
  5. If they pass the test, then they will receive the welfare benefits again and have to take another random test in six months. If they pass that test, then they go back on the schedule of one test a year.

This is a policy that should be presented in all 50 states and I think it should be something to look at here in Tennessee. Do we have a state legislator here in Tennessee that will take up this mantle?

American Dad


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1 Comment so far

  1.    prescription information on October 29, 2009 9:27 pm

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