I came across this in my internet travels today....

What do you think about it? should drug testing be a requirement for welfare?

Would it serve a purpose? Would it be a benefit? Do people that aren't on drugs deserve help and those that are on drugs don't?

I'm curious what other people think of it. I think the idea has some merit.... but at the same time there are enough other things for people to spend money on that aren't drugs that even limiting the drugs addicts out of welfare won't actually solve the entitlement mentality that some people have.

No you don't deserve to have a 50+ inch flat screen TV and full HD cable just because you know someone else who has it....

anyway... /rant.... what do other people think about this?

I think they should have it, but if someone test positive they shouldn't just turn them away. Instead make it a requirement to go to rehab as long as your using the welfare.

Originally posted by Zamiel

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I think they should have it, but if someone test positive they shouldn't just turn them away. Instead make it a requirement to go to rehab as long as your using the welfare.

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I like that idea. That might be a workable idea for sure.

It would help people deal with a possible root cause of their welfare. Drug addiction can be costly and many drug addicts spend money on their addiction first and on other things second.

The only problem is where to get the money for this. I'm sure a working rehab center isn't cheap. I'm sure they're plenty of things that we don't need to pay for in the government, but how many people are willing to sacrifice other stuff for drug addicts? Sad really.

No point in drug testing for welfare that would get expensive probably. If they want people to spend it on certain items they need to have a system like food stamps where your only allowed to buy certain things with it. I don't think its right to drug test applicants when you could have someone just as bad who is not into drugs. It's like denying cancer patients welfare cause there is no point giving money to a person who will be dead shortly.

What about the people who really do need drugs? Cause there are plenty of people out there who actually need them in help curing a disability they have.

I agree though if a person does not get okayed by a doctor that they are allowed to have drugs in there system else I say send them to rehab before or while they are getting the money.

Not sure how it works exactly but if it was in the form of a debit card, where you cannot take out money, that might be good. Cause they should also censor people from buying liquor as well, people dont look at that as a drug but it is just as bad as any other drug on the market.

Alcohol is considered a drug Just like tobacco.
Obviously we weren't talking about people who have doctors permission. Do you think having food stamps would stop the drug addict from selling said food stamps and using that money to get more drugs?

You cant "sell" food stamps for drugs if they are in a debit card form. All you can do is buy food with it. So unless you are trading a drug dealer weed for a loaf of bread I don't see what problems would occur.

Nothing is full proof, if I buy a condom that doesnt make me baby free. If I get a lawyer that doesnt mean I wont go to jail. If I wear a helmet that doesnt necessarliy stop me from becoming a vegtable. If I go to a job interview that doesnt make me instantly get the job. See what I'm saying?

It's all about chance, you cant prevent anything from happening no matter how secure something is there will always be alternatives to bypassing a system.

If they are that worried about drugs, put the ATF to some good use and assign them to look over the suspicious ones.

Well id have to say this is a touchy subject. Let me throw some statistics into this debate: (No this is not spam)

Race
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White 38.8%
Black 37.2
Hispanic 17.8
Asian 2.8
Other 3.4

Time on AFDC
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Less than 7 months 19.0%
7 to 12 months 15.2
One to two years 19.3
Two to five years 26.9
Over five years 19.6

Number of children
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One 43.2%
Two 30.7
Three 15.8
Four or more 10.3

Age of Mother
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Teenager 7.6%
20 - 29 47.9
30 - 39 32.7
40 or older 11.8

Also go to this link for Ethnic Drug Statistics to blend with the above Stats -
http://books.google.com/books?id=vG2-wEPpy-IC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=ethnic+drug+statistics&source=bl&ots=UGMATZsUVJ&sig=pLnMS33bifZ0PqpKLQ20tDT3itM&hl=en&ei=-H19S73gPJLuswO-1YzLCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCYQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=ethnic%20drug%20statistics&f=false Start on page 17 for the Stats

As you can see White's use Welfare services more than any other ethnicity, and were also are becoming a minority in this country. So what does that tell me? Welfare goes predominately to White's. Now lets look at the drug statistics.....

If we are going to harp on people about Alcohol and Cigarettes, far fewer Americans would even be able to benefit from this sometimes life saving organization. I agree with JigSaw whole heartedly about the ATF, and high costs of drug tests. Maybe this enlight on the given stats some of you will reconsider what this would actually do to the financially burdened homes.

There is plenty of government funded programs that we don't actually need and the money would be put to better use if it was invested in something like this instead of pet projects for politicians. I wasn't so much as worried as to how the addict would spend the money as I am about the person themselves. If we send the people to rehab they have a better chance of getting clean and therefore being able to function better in society. Which means they have a better chance of getting a better job and getting off of the welfare faster. I'm not saying that everyone on welfare is a drug addict but I'm sure there are a lot of drug addicts who have welfare or at least tried to get it. We'd probably save money if it actually worked as well in practice as in theory but that rarely ever happens.

okay... when I said drug testing I meant stuff like Heroine, Coke, Crack, Meth, etc.

Hardcore drugs... not pot, or ciggs or alcohol, although I think addiction to those things is bad as well.

I just think for many people the welfare system is a trap and not salvation. Many people get into it and never get out.

And what does race have to do with this? I don't care if more blacks than whites do something or more whites than blacks. If someone is addicted to drugs and welfare is giving them money then I want to know that and I don't want to pay them to continue their addiction but I'm more than willing to have my money go towards drug rehab so that those people can become useful members of society again.

The race needed to be addressed, along with the ethnic-drug relation as well to further understand what exactly the funding would need to be in order to efficiently deal with this issue. (that is if you are willing to fund such an ordeal)

I personally dont find it to be plausible to drug-test welfare recipients because although, yes they may be using the funds for other than ideal things, what about the children that these addictee's have to support? This would be harming them as well by cutting their families income.

that's fair.

But if a parent has a serious drug habit... the parent should go to rehab and the kids should probably be in, at least temporary, foster care.

I just think there needs to be more accountablility in the system. I don't like the idea that my taxes are going to pay for someones cable/cellphone.... or towards their drug habit.

I couldnt have said it better myself Geeo

Good thread

Drug screenings are good start, but much more needs to be done as well.

Originally posted by Lagslayer

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Drug screenings are good start, but much more needs to be done as well.

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I completely agree with you on that. There is a culture of entitlement that is pervasive in North America. This idea that because someone else has it that you need it too. You can't just have what you have and be happy with it. You must have the next best thing. "Keeping up with the Jones" so to speak. I know people who are on welfare who have a bigger TV and better cable than I have. I have never been on welfare but for some reason they get enough money to have a huge TV and the most expensive HD cable package. Does that make any sense?

I realize that there are some people who legitimately need welfare because they are down on their luck... but I also know there are plenty of people who are just milking the system for all they can get because they would rather be a bum who doesn't work for what he's getting rather than get a job and actually earn what they actually spend.

I see what you mean Geeo, id be irate if here i am a middle class citizen and my next door neighbor drives a Mercedes and is on welfare..... Doesnt seem right, and if we all were to be 'milking the system' there wouldnt be government funding like this at all. Also in 1996 the Welfare Reform Act authorized - but did not require - states to drug test Public Aid recipients.... It would seem this idea has been around for a while now... Just no progress since this act was implemented.

I suppose now its at the state's level to fund these projects

absolutely should be required. there are so many ppl that get welfare money and spend it on drugs. its pathetic. lol youve never heard the song "first of tha month" by bonethugs and harmony?

They definitely should. It would be pointless to give welfare money to addicts, we all know that they will most likely spend the money on more drugs, leaving them just as poor as they began with. It is like the hamster experiment they did a while back: the hamster had two levers it could push, one which gave it food and one which gave it cocaine. The hamster pushed the cocaine lever every day until it died of starvation, but it never stopped to push the food lever. This just goes to show that even though we have larger brains than hamsters, we are still subject to addiction.
Ironically, this ties in to my literary analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird. Bob Ewell had 8 children who were starving to death and living in basically a slum, yet he took his welfare check every month and spent it on whiskey. His decisions not only affected himself, but his family, and eventually led to Tom Robinson (an innocent man. I can't summarize the entire plot) and his own death.