drug testing for welfare recipients

The topic of drug testing for welfare recipients recently came up in conversation among some of my friends. I can see how the idea might sound like a good one at first, but if you look a little harder it becomes clear (at least to me) that knocking people out of the program for failing a drug test is hardly the solution to anyone's problems - not the individual, and not the state.


***The following is my personal opinion on the matter. I am considering making this a topic of an actual research paper in the future, but for now I'm simply laying out what my feelings are on the topic. Some of this is based on actual facts I've come across as I've kept up with politics and social issues, and other parts are based solely on my own version of common sense. It's a starting point for research, not a final product, so please treat it as such.


Right to Privacy
First of all, we as American citizens (yes, even the poor ones) are granted a constitutional right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment. This means that assuming we're not infringing on anyone else' rights, we have a certain amount of freedom to do what we choose with our lives. The right to privacy has been upheld in the courts to apply to a range of topics, most of which are matters of the pocketbook or the bedroom. We can spend our money how we choose, on whatever kinds of foods, products, hobbies, or services we choose. We have a right to use contraception or seek abortions if we so choose. We can practice whatever kinky sex we're inclined to, so long as our partner(s) is(are) of age and the act is consensual. And even though drugs are illegal in most states, the Fourth Amendment guards against undue search and seizure... meaning unless we've done something to cause someone else a problem, and unless a proper warrant is presented, what drugs a person chooses to use in their home is not an issue for the state to be concerned with. Law enforcement has every right to deal with drugs when they're being sold on the street, trafficked, or when someone is impaired in public. But to hell with the state being able to invade our right to privacy when we're on our own private property, causing no one else any harm.

If you want to start testing welfare recipients for drugs, what will come next? We should test all of our lawmakers, right? Hell, test everyone - cops, military, teachers, doctors, nurses, firefighters. Don't stop there though - senior citizens leech off the government, too - and Medicare patients. Disabled people. The unemployed. Businesses who benefit from government subsidies. Farmers. What about military spouses, children? Maybe everyone we pay anything to should be drug tested. We could keep going... why stop at drug testing? We should probably monitor people for other bad habits that may be illegal... gambling, anyone? There has to be more we could monitor for... there must be more savings to be had!

Why is it okay for us to invade the privacy of poor people? Why are they the only ones who should be subject to such scrutiny? Is it unheard of that our military families or seniors could be using illegal substances? No, but they have the respect of their communities and the political clout to ward off any such proposition. Poor people are an easy target. They have no spokesperson, no money, no power, and are paid no respect. Their human dignity is attacked all the time, but they have no defense. It's absurd.

A small note on the issue of Medical Marijuana
Don't even get me started on this one. Marijuana may be classified as a drug, but it has certain medicinal purposes that are undeniable, and should be researched and regulated as a medicine. Period. If there is an argument for any drug at all, it's medical marijuana. I don't care if it's illegal where you live. If you're in pain, if you're ill, and if it brings you relief, I think you should be able to use it as you see fit. I am opposed to any drug testing laws that could prevent sick people who find relief from this plant from access to that relief.

And finally... here comes the best argument I have... plain and simple ECONOMICS
Here's the thing... Florida passed a law that called for drug testing of welfare recipients (which was overturned by the courts, by the way). But while the law was in effect, only 2.5% of those tested failed. 2.5%. Meaning 97.5% of them passed with flying colors. I would bet that you'd be hard pressed to find any area of our society that does better than that. Business leaders, politicians, and wall street executives wouldn't pass at that rate. I wouldn't even expect teachers or military personnel to do that well. Seriously. So... if we're only talking about a very small percentage of the recipients, is this really necessary? Worthwhile from an economic standpoint? Are we even going to pay for the testing itself with that low of a percentage? I doubt it. So if we're going to end up spending more money than we save anyway (what with all the burearocracy that such a testing system is bound to create, the actual expense of the tests, and the efforts that will need to be made to make sure the tests are accurate, etc...), then this whole thing is just a big red herring to distract us from the real issues we have in this country. Quick! Everyone look at the poor people! Look how they waste your tax dollars! Blame them! Psh. Sorry, but the math just doesn't add up.

But wait... there's more! I'm not done with the economic argument yet.

Riddle me this:
If a welfare recipient has a drug problem, and we take away their welfare, what happens to that person? Do they stop doing drugs because they don't have any more money? No. They fall further into poverty, continue and probably fall deeper into their drug habit, probably become homeless... and then what?

Answer: They become even more of an expense for the state than they were when they were on welfare. They have no access to job placement, job training, or rehabilitation. They cost us more money in homeless shelters, at soup kitchens, and in multiple trips to emergency rooms than they ever would have on welfare. And they have little to no hope of getting out of their situation.

The point of welfare is to save people from the very depths of poverty, and to then lift them up to at least the lower or working class. These are not the people who are leeching off of our society. They are not the burden on our tax system that some make them out to be. They are people, like you and me, who have fallen on hard times, and need their communities and their country to give them a hand up - not a hand out, and not a shove to the bottom either.

We can talk about improving welfare programs. We can talk about work incentives, day care, access to family planning services (!!), or whatever other ideas we've got. But drug testing? Really? We can do better than that.