Welfare and Drug Testing

Should Welfare Recipients Get Drug Testing?

Estimating Drug Use Among Welfare Recipients
Are people on welfare more likely to be substance abusers? Not by much, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The administration, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, found that 9.6 percent of people living in households that receive government assistance used illicit drugs in the previous month, compared with a 6.8 percent rate among families who receive no assistance.

The administration also found that heavy alcohol use was slightly lower in households receiving assistance than in those that do not.

Michigan, the only state to have imposed random drug testing on welfare recipients, found that 10 percent tested positive for illicit drugs, with 3 percent testing positive for hard drugs such as cocaine. "These rates are consistent with the general population," according to the liberal Center for Law and Social Policy.

— Alan Greenblatt

Kasha Kelley believes that people on welfare need to spend their money on things like diapers and detergent — not drugs.

Kelley, who has served in the Kansas state House since 2005, sponsored legislation to require a large share of the state's welfare recipients to be tested for drug use, or risk losing their benefits.

"I get a lot of constituents who mention their frustrations with neighbors they know are receiving some sort of public assistance," she says. "They don't feel the money's being used right when they know that drugs are being used in the house, and I would concur with that."

The Kansas House passed Kelley's bill overwhelmingly last year, but it has not won Senate approval. She hasn't given up, though — and neither have legislators in at least nine other states who have introduced similar measures.

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[CheckM8King2]

Testing for drugs?..Absolutely. I would go one step further: Must take manditory birth control and not allowed to vote either. If you're not contributing anything to society

you shouldn't be allowed to vote. As far as medical marijuana use remember that it's still classified as illegal by the federal government. Good video...

[lundyncanada]

@CheckM8King2 ok what about if you had a job and you got laid off and your unemployment runs out so you HAD to get on Walfare; should my voting right be taken away still????

[grendel1013]

First off this woman in this video is a retard.

1) If you have a medical card for medical marijuana, they will make an exception.

2) It costs tax payers MORE to support lazy ass holes that just sit at home and get high off illegal drugs, and have no ambition to get off state by getting a job.

[lundyncanada]

@grendel1013 LOL! You a retard.

[CapnCrossbones]

Im all for drug testing for citizens who get any kind of government aid but if they do not pass it is the province/state who has to help the person by offering programs to clean them up. Or.... Do the stupid thing cut them off make them homeless and desperate and people will die. Pretty simple. In Canada Homeless means sleeping in -30'C or colder weather , homelessness in Canada is a Death sentence literally. So if my government did this I would not be surprised crime skyrockets and murders.

[TheSilentcarnage]

All for drug testing for citizens who get any kind of government aid.

[jamestylerdotorg]

The state of Kansas City? lol

[poopanddooky]

you are an idiot(kansas city is a city not a state) the state is kansas....

[XXXphukitXXX]

Shit's a mess here and I see us grasping at strawls. Who actually has the right answer? I just hope this is not a mistake. I hope chaos and crime does not rise in our country. We have enough now with people killing their own kids and shit. Life is crazy. So again, just my opinion, not here to get ripped a new one.

[XXXphukitXXX]

Not posting this to get yelled at here, just an opinion. I say legalize marijuana, cause cancer is not pretty for anyone. You suffer and some of my family members/friends did. I am sure we all have watched our loved ones die from cancer. It is a unforviging illness. Not to mention people who have aids as well. Where is this FEMA that is suppose to step in? Our country is falling and we are struggling to stay afoat. Where's these countries we have bent over backwards for to support?

[XXXphukitXXX]

and against it. Yes, to mooch off of us who work hard is wrong, but what are these individuals to do that are the extreeme usuer's? It takes more then one drug facility to even tap the surface. They know no better. I don't know. I have mixed feelings about the whole issue and I don't want some crazied person car jacking me or breaking into my house to rob or murder my family. I say if they legalize marijuana like they did alcohol in the 30's, we will see our economy rise no doubt.