Drug Testing Benefits

Improved Essays
McLaughlin (2013) argues that more than half of the U.S. states have proposed the implementation of various forms of drug testing policies. For example, the State of Florida has recently mandated that each individual who applies for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) should “pay for a urinalysis. If the results were negative, TANF funds would reimburse the applicant for the drug test; if the results were positive, applicants would become ineligible to receive TANF benefits for one year” (Wurman, 2013, p. 1154). In Ontario, Canada, such policies have been reinforced by “bureaucratic surveillance tools, such as Eligibility Review Officers (EROs), Welfare Fraud Hotlines and Drug Testing” (Maki, 2011, p. 55). These tools allow the government to monitor, approve, and deny the distribution of welfare resources according to the conditions previously established, such as passing a drug test (McLaughlin, …show more content…
In order to understand the rationale behind the implementation of such policies, it is important to analyze the root factors, and the possible benefits that could arise from monitoring the eligibility of welfare recipients through drug

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    I think is important to have parent’s opinions that have childrens with this problem and what they think about the programs. 5.The parties act like this because the Court found that the government had a "compelling" need in drug testing the employees in order to ensure their effectiveness in stopping drug smugglers, as well as to protect national security interests. C. Issues: Legal and public policy.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Not until the republicans took control of Congress did legislation pass that changed this existing welfare system which was called Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Case Study 3 Analysis of Welfare to Work Legislation 3 Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWOR), more commonly known as the “Welfare to Work” program which was opposed by many congressional democratic politicians. This program “finally ended the federally controlled open-ended entitlement of the AFDC program” (Stephens & Wikstrom, 2007, pg. 165). It was controlled now by federal block grants called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) that required time-limited cash assistance with the states spending the money in any way they chose as long as they met the objectives of this grant which 1) reduced the dependency by promoting job preparation, 2) promotes transfer from welfare to work, 3) provides assistance to needy families so children could be cared for in their homes, 4) promotes marriage with reduced out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and 5) encourages the formation and maintenance of two-parent families with restrictions as well in this legislation that…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Of Drug Crazy

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The very mention of drugs summons demonic images: needles, babies addicted at birth, violence. No issue generates such a visceral reaction in people like the topic of drugs. In Mike Gray’s book “Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out,” his analysis of the drug war in America explores the mass hysteria surrounding addiction that was nourished with misinformation. Based on the history Gray has compiled, coupled with modern studies, the drug war appears to be a lost cause, now and into the foreseeable future. In 1909, Dr. Hamilton Wright was appointed as the third U.S delegate to the International Opium Commission at Shanghai and became “personally responsible for shaping the international narcotics laws as we know them today.”…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    SNAP and Drug Felons The author states that “a just distribution of goods, opportunities and liberties is the one that produces the greatest amount of welfare” (Hinman, pg. 227). Welfare is something that as a people we have provided to the poor throughout the centuries. Wealthy people and churches provided aid to the needy since the 17th century” (Mandell and Schram, pg. 33). By the 1930’s the American Government had assumed control and began to oversee welfare programs in America” (Mandell and Schram, pg. 33).…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should welfare recipients be required to pass a drug test in order to receive food stamps/EBT? This question has been floating around for quite some time now. As a taxpayer, I truly agree with drug testing welfare recipients. I am not against helping those in need, but I refuse to let my hard-earned money encourage the habits of someone who is most likely to use that help towards illegal drugs and other illicit activities. With that being said, I believe drug testing to receive welfare benefits can help those with a drug problem by pointing them towards treatment and not paying them until they get the help they need.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Welfare has always been a major point in today’s politics; every election the debate is brought forth once more and again when the Federal budget comes to the floor. It is assumed by many in the population that the program is for the lazy and encourages the poor to not find work or continues to have dependents to increase the amount of benefits they can receive. Many argue that it is the “right” of the individual to receive aid from the government when they cannot support their family. Others agree help is warranted but there must be limits set to avoid fraud or the program becomes not an aid but a way of life. Over the course of our nation’s history welfare reform has taken on many new faces and gone through many struggles.…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many understandable reasons why a person would try to go on welfare, such as having medical issues. There are also many programs that were organized to help people in need. Welfare participants should be drug tested for not just one reason but for many reasons. There are seven states that are currently testing welfare participants. All seven states have some shocking news of the results that show many of the participants are using drugs.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People who receive welfare are classified as poor. Therefore, if they are given free money to live off of, of course they will use it as they wish. If welfare money is used on drugs, the receiver’s outcome will inevitably either be addiction or no longer being able to care for themselves. These people won’t be able to provide themselves with their necessities—food, shelter, keeping their hygiene up, etc. People who are employed get drug tested,…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In these harsh times of rising prices, and shrinking job markets, making a living has became increasingly complicated. Welfare is a system that provides a minimum amount of economic security to people who maintain an inadequate lifestyle. It takes money from hard-working tax payers to distribute and supply America’s less fortunate. Although welfare supplies the ones in need; others take advantage of the system. Welfare benefits should require stricter laws such as drug screenings, thourough investigations and follow ups.…

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Exploring the views of those who are for welfare drug testing have many reasons why it 's a "good idea. " For some jobs one must agree to either get randomly drug tested throughout…

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Argument Against Welfare Testing

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 8 Works Cited

    In The University Of Pennsylvania Journal Of Constitutional Law, Celia Goetzl agrees: “Such policies stereotype, stigmatize, and criminalize the poor without cause” (2013, p.1541). Studies support the assertion that applicants for welfare are no more likely to have substance abuse issues than are the general public. Moreover, problems that have arisen with drug testing results due to faulty testing and results. According to Pollack, et al, “Suspicionless, population-based chemical testing of welfare recipients will detect some “true positives” who are drug-dependent, a greater number of “accidental positives” with complex psychological problems, and a larger group of “false positives” who have no apparent psychiatric (including drug-related) disorder” (2002, p. 30). In this study conducted over two a year span, “the categories of “false positives,” and “accidental positives” each outnumbered the “true positives”” (Pollack, Danziger, Jayakody, Seefeldt, 2002).…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 8 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    $1 trillion annually are spent throughout all 83 government assistance programs. All people receiving government assistance should be drug tested randomly to prove that they truly need the help and that they are not just using and abusing the system. Welfare is government programs that help and provide money and…

    • 2224 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Families abusing the welfare circumstances clearly have no incentive to increase their work effort since they see no enhancement in their spending power (Welfare 5). “If welfare did not help the poor, then why would so many people be on welfare?’’ (Welfare). This is a question…

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The intent of the programs is to provide assistance for a limited time while the family works to improve their current status. Denying illegal drug users typical government assistance would encourage the user to combat their addiction. Providing tools through programs specific to getting users clean would benefit the entire family and state. Notably, the effects of illegal drug use, crime and poor health impact children. By correcting these environmental factors it would assist in breaking the generational cycle for repeating these negative and illegal behaviors.…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Programs such as SNAP need to be regulated, in that qualifying means to be drug tested and receipts sent in for auditing purchases. In regards to qualifying for social welfare, the “Current Population Survey (CPS) derives the official poverty rate by comparing incomes to the absolute poverty that was calculated back in the 1955 consumption patterns” (Cochran). This rate is absurd, when people apply for benefits the system “counts only cash income” (Cochran). In many situations a family may not qualify for benefits through income, but qualifies after deductions such as medical and healthcare costs, taxes and other work expenses. Too many are dependent on the government funding and decide to stay there.…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays