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Essay On Welfare Drug Testing

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The idea that children would lose their own benefits has also been a controversial topic that has been defied by the third-party tactic put-forth by these states. Despite intensive research, Florida and Oklahoma were the only states that allotted information discerning how they chose to pay for the welfare drug tests. Both states had differing payment methods which leads to the conclusion that each state has their own individual plan of action to cover these costs. Just as each state may or may not have their own payment tactic, each state does have their own views and conclusions about how drug testing welfare recipients has affected them. Oklahoma 's Rep. Guy Liebmann said "If we as taxpayers are basically employing the recipients of welfare, …show more content…

In the beginning, welfare was intended to help those suffering from an economic collapse during the Great Depression, but has since turned into a long term commitment for some (Besonen). In similar terms to Rep. Liebmann, Robert Rector, a Senior Search Fellow in Domestic Policy at the Heritage Foundation said, “Taxpayers should provide support to those in need; recipients, in return, should engage in responsible and constructive behavior as a condition of receiving aid.” It should be reasonable to expect the recipients to take pride in their earning instead of not understanding the standards set before them (Besonen). Drug tests have been set forth to uphold the responsible behavior of those receiving financial assistance (Besonen). While drug tests will probably be argued for many years to come, they are fair (Besonen). Working individuals are required to perform these drug tests in order to maintain employee standards for their given company (Besonen). Professional sports teams, the military, and many other institutions enforce drug testing to their employees (Besonen). In theory welfare recipients are basically employees of the state government in terms that they receive their funds, so the standards have reasonable regards to back them up …show more content…

Because Florida has had drug testing implemented the longest, their results are better documented and more available for public usage. Welfare and drug testing have been around since the 1900’s, and over time the government took two vastly different programs and combined them to create a greater good for the nation. Although the 4th Amendment was largely at question for numerous years, the Supreme Court ruled in favor with the states at the concept that the program is fair and reasonable. Cost efficiency has been proven and many states who enforce these laws have had beneficial, money saving, results. As I mentioned in previous paragraphs, no nationwide tactic is used to pay for the individual tests, but states have evidentially chosen their own course. For example, Florida does not punish those who return positive tests; however, they require those who fail to not only lose benefits, but they are not reimbursed for the test they paid for. While only a select few states have implemented drug testing for their welfare recipients, the program is evidentially catching on throughout the nation. Over the past 20 years, 15 states have introduced these tests and as results as publicized, it is only a matter of time before others join in on this money saving tactic. As Oklahoma 's Rep. John Bennet said, "It is now undeniable that drug-testing

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In Why Drug testing Welfare Recipients Is a Waste of Taxpayer Money, Darlena Cunha works to persuade that drug testing welfare recipients feeds the stereotype stigma towards those asking for the extra assistance and is actually wasting the taxpayer’s money. As soon as the page opens, there is a large image of two gloved hands holding a drug test. The picture is dark and the light is focused on a blue urine test for Cannabis and an Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC). As a result, the image automatically gives the reader a serious and eery tone.

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In the United States during the 1980s, cocaine was the sugar boost that many businessmen and upper-class whites indulged in to “increase productivity”. Cocaine was primarily limited to the economically superior due to a limited availability, which launched prices, and as a result the drug would often be used as a display of class and status that was hardly obtainable by minorities or the lower-classes. In the White House during the end of the 1960s to the early 70s was Richard Nixon who was socially disconnected from the counterculture of both the decades. Nixon, who was already in his late forties at the beginning of the 1960s, was simply too old to be a part of the counterculture of the drug loving decade, so Nixon had little understanding

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In the 1980’s and 1990’s there was a drug hysteria that took place in the United States. The incarceration rates began to skyrocket within our prisons and this was all in connection to the drug war. Many people were being arrested and received harsh sentences for minor drug offenses and this increased the number of people in jails and prisons. In result, drug courts emerged and policies were implemented. One particular Proposition that took place in California is Proposition 36 the Substance and Abuse Act.

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Opposers claim that making a drug test mandatory for welfare recipients unconstitutional and goes directly against the fourth amendment. The fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, “the rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated… ,” (Fast). While this is a good argument welfare recipients are not the only ones who have ever had to take a mandatory drug test. Several people in the working class must take a drug test as well as a background check, and this is considered legal. The working class must pass a drug test to make the money that ends up going to welfare.

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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.

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How do you think the average American feels when he pays taxes to the government, just to know that it is going to people who use the money to buy drugs? According to Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah, Mississippi, Kansas, Tennessee, and Arizona only 10% of people receiving welfare are getting caught using drugs, the reason we only catch a small amount is the state government tells the recipients when they are drug testing them. In the technology we have today we can tell if a person is on drugs by three ways one way is urine, another way is blood and the last way is hair. These ways to drug test recipients are all efficient and effective. The most effective way is if you use hair to see if someone is using drugs you can usually tell for about 9 days it also depends on what drug they are using.

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Welfare Recipients should be drug tested. Welfare is a public assistance program designed to help people who are not able to support themselves at the given time. The Welfare Information site states that welfare can also be defined as a financial assistance to impoverished individuals which is suppled through the taxes paid by the working class. This means that welfare improves the quality of life and how the poor and underprivileged live.

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Drug testing individuals is not worth the money in the end because most people will not test positive. Most people tend to forget that most people receiving aid also are taxpayers. In 2010, nearly half the poor mother or near poor mothers were at least working part time (Cunha). If the people receiving aid are paying for the drug tests to they would probably rather keep that money then have it be wasted. Drug testing recipients is a waste of money since the government would be wasting more money on giving the tests then they would be

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One of those reasons being, drug testing welfare recipients could waste taxpayer’s money. The government would use tax money to administer drug test (Cunha, par. 3). Many taxpayers do not feel like they are obligated to pay for a person’s drug habit (“Editorial: Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Doesn’t Add Up,” par. 1). In Tennessee, only one person to the 800 who applied for government assistance tested positive for drugs. In Florida, during four months of drug testing , only 2.6 % of welfare recipients tested positive, which was under Florida’s illegal use of 8%, which meant that fewer people using government assistance used drugs.

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The legalization of drugs has been at the center of interminable debate. Drugs have widely been perceived as a dominant threat to the moral fabric of society. Drug use has been attributed as the source responsible for a myriad of key issues. For instance, it is believed that drugs have exacerbated the already weak status of mental health in the United States in which some individuals suffering from mental illness administer illicit substances such as heroin or cocaine in an attempt to self-medicate. Moreover, drugs are blamed for turning auspicious members of the community into worthless degenerates.

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Welfare Abuse “Today, we are ending welfare as we know it, but I hope this day will be remembered not for what it ended, but for what it began” (Welfare Reform). These words were spoken by President Clinton during the signing ceremony of his passed legislature that called for a drastic reform of the welfare system. After years of implementation, the current welfare system of the time, the AFDC, had been said to cause familial issues when it was meant to be providing aid to families in poverty. It had been accused of promoting fatherless children and providing the poor and out-of-work with reasons and motives to stay unemployed. Being funded by taxes, it does not make much sense to continue a program that hinders both those receiving it

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Drug abuse is up to ten percent in the U.S. That is twenty-three million people. Just imagine how many of those people could possibly be using welfare checks to support those addictions. The government is clueless to what the money they give out is spent on. Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah are seven states that require a drug test before allowing a person to receive welfare.

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Employers hire their employees based off of who they believe will work best in thier needed positions. Ultimately, most employers do not typically hire people who regularly use drugs due to the side effects drugs can potentially cause. In addition to that, drug testing also prevents an unsafe working environment. According to EHS Today “A number of workplace studies measuring the accident rates of companies before and after implementing drug testing indicate that drug testing is indeed an important safety factor”

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Currently there are three methods used to detect drugs in a person’s system, a urine drug test, oral-fluid drug test, and hair drug test. A hair drug test can detect drug usage as far back as 90 days; it is the best at detecting repeated drug use (“Drug Positivity,” 2016). Urine drug test (the most commonly used) can detect drugs used in over the last one to three days, and oral fluid drug test can detect drugs used in the last 24 to 48 hours (“Drug Positivity,”

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