Should people on welfare have to have drug testing?

Should people on welfare have to have drug testing?

When accepting a job many employers require one to consent to and pass a drug test before being hired. If that individual rejects to consent or fails the drug test they are not hired for the position. Why should drug testing among welfare recipients be any different? Recipients of welfare do not currently have drug testing regulations on a federal level and that has a lot of people very upset. Many feel that tax payer money is being spent on illegal drugs rather than being spent on ways to get them off of welfare. Recipients of welfare argue that it is an invasion of privacy and unethical to force drug testing upon them. Drug testing among welfare users is something that should be implemented nationwide to potentially help save tax payer money and decrease drug use while not invading privacy rights.

The "First Passover Sedar Dinner" given by Jewish ...

Master Sgt. Urbano Sosa demonstrates the job of an...

English: Quick drug testing reagents. Photographed...

Budget cuts are no stranger to states and the federal government. While the federal government has no current mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients, the states have begun to implement their own. Most of these mandatory tests resulting from the cause of budget cuts (Vance). States feel that they can cut back on welfare spending by identifying those who test positive and deny them assistance. Since 2007, over half of the states have considered bills requiring aid recipients to submit to drug testing procedures while receiving public assistance (Budd). The majority of these bills implement testing without belief of prior suspected drug use but rather to further assume that the aid money the states are providing is not being spent on illegal drugs. Congress delivered a very blunt message through Rep. Zimmer by saying, "No more money for nothing…Get a real job." This quote coming after drug testing by states...