During the Great Depression of the 1930s, local and state governments as well as private charities were overwhelmed by needy families seeking food, clothing, and shelter. In 1935, welfare for poor children and other dependent persons became a federal government responsibility, which it remained for 60 years (Constitutional Rights Foundation). Over the years the federal government has begun to spend approximately $668 billion per year on 126 different welfare programs, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report. Over 50 million people are using hard working people’s tax dollars for their own needs. There should not be millions of dollars wasted away on welfare abusers. To be handed free money, the government should require a drug test to people …show more content…
According to a tweet by ThinkProgress, “States spend millions to drug test the poor, turn up few positive results. They spent $1.3 million to find just 369 drug users.” They are assuming that 369 drug users is not a big number, they have clearly proceeded to overlook the statistics. On average, a person with two children and a job earning $13/hour makes around $27,000 a year. Calculating those statistics out would have equaled about $10 million. These statistics bring the attention to non drug test believers that it could cut taxes significantly. The state with the highest total value of welfare benefits was Hawaii, at $49,175. The lowest was Mississippi, at $16,984 (Washington Post). Some say it would be a waste of money to drug test. It would actually only cost around $1.8 billion and the total amount of taxes each year going out to welfare is around $668 billion. If the government were to catch people using the money for drugs they would be taken out of the system and put into rehab or expelled from the welfare program, which proves that in the long run welfare recipients should be required to perform and pass a positive drug test to continue to receive welfare