Drug Testing for Welfare

Drug Testing For Welfare

Joe Henderson

Last year, Utah Legislation passed a law that would require all welfare applicants to get screened for drugs. “The whole purpose is to get people back to work.” Said Rep. Brad Wilson. There are multiple steps to this process. First, there is a written questionnaire that tests for a high probability of drug use. The suspicious people are then drug tested. According to thinkprocess.org, “The state spent nearly $6,000 on written tests for 4,730 applicants, 466 of which had to take a drug test, which cost more than $25,000.” If you test positive, you are required to complete a substance abuse treatment program. In the end, the entire program saved the state nearly $350,000. Not only because they caught 12 people, but 250 didn’t even give an effort to apply for government assistance because they knew they would test positive for illegal substances. This whole program gives initiative to the people living off the government to go find a job. In the end, the states of Utah spent $30,000 to put the program into effect and saved $350,000 out of it. That’s $320,000 back into the taxpayers’ wallets in the first year that would have gone to people that abuse illegal substances. There has been some controversy over the whole drug testing dilemma, but bills like the one in Utah have passed in 9 states. With over 100 million families receiving some sort of government assistance, it is only right to make sure we are giving the money to people who really need it.

 In Florida, there was a large controversy over if it was really saving the taxpayers money. They spent $45,000 on the program and only caught 2% of the recipients. The other 98% passed and it ultimately cost the taxpayers to pay a little more. States like Minnesota want to make the drug testing random. If this were to be in effect, the state could set a budget on how much to spend on the drug tests and how many people to test. For most jobs, you have to pass a drug test so it’s only fair for the welfare recipients to get tested also.

Works Cited

"CLiNiCAL CYNiC." 100 million Americans on welfare....Web. 4 Mar. 2014. <http://clinicalcynicism.blogspot.com/2012/08/100000000-americans-on-welfare.html>.

"Minnesota Officials Complain That Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Is A Waste Of Time And Money." ThinkProgress RSS. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. <http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/30/3108101/minnesota-drug-testing/#>.

"Utah Spent More Than $30,000 To Catch 12 Drug Users On Welfare." ThinkProgress RSS. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. <http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/27/2532851/utah-spent-30000-catch-12-drug-users-welfare/#>.

"Utah's welfare drug testing saved more than $350,000 in first year, officials say." DeseretNews.com. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. <http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765637435/Utah-officials-say-welfare-drug-tests-save-money.html>.

"Why drug testing of welfare recipients is a bad idea | Station.6.Underground." Why drug testing of welfare recipients is a bad idea | Station.6.Underground. Web. 4 Mar. 2014. <http://stationsixunderground.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-drug-testing-of-welfare-recipients.html#axzz2uGBmuLe4>.

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