Pros And Cons Of Welfare Drug Testing

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Why Should Welfare Recipients be Drug Tested Many politicians believe that testing welfare recipients is illegal. Others disagree and push for the act to be passed. Many argue the point that doing the testing is unconstitutional. Some say that will also cost the government lots of money. Others will argue that the testing benefits the government more than it hurts it. The testing allows to only send the money to those who need it and use it wisely (Chodorow).
The discussion of drug testing welfare applicants first appeared in 1996. The proposal gained momentum again in 2011. In 2012 four states enacted laws and two states passed legislation in 2013. In the same year the state of Kansas enacted …show more content…

States have proposed drug testing of applicants and recipients of public welfare benefits since federal welfare reform in 1996. The federal rules permit drug testing as part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant. In recent years, nearly all states have proposed some form of drug testing or screening for applicants. In 2009, over 20 states proposed legislation that would require drug testing as a condition of eligibility for public assistance programs. In 2010 at least 12 states had similar proposals. None of these proposals became law because most of the legislation was focused on “suspicionless” or “random” drug testing, which is at odds with a 2003 Michigan Court of Appeals case. Marchwinski v. Howard ruled that subjecting every welfare applicant in Michigan to a drug test without reason to believe that drugs were being used, was …show more content…

The state of Florida has already implemented the drug testing on welfare recipients. By doing so the amount of applicants has gone down about 48 percent. The decrease of applicants is due to the drug users that simply do not apply because of the testing. The users could apply for welfare in the future but they must refrain from the partaking in the illegal activity which is drugs. In 2013 the state of Missouri there was over 30,000 welfare applicants drug screened and they found the little to no people failed the tests. The state of Arizona also had the same results