[Professor]
Welfare recipients in the United States of America are increasing every year. In 2013, an article in the Illinois Watchdog mentioned that there are around 46.7 million American citizens who have registered for the food stamp program. One recipient receives $133 every month and a maximum of $275 per family (Illinois Website website). Dissents however are growing regarding this welfare program. Critics say that it is a dole out and disempowering program. Instead of food stamps, Dabrowksi who was cited in the same online article mentioned above said that the country needs to provide jobs to the poor instead of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).
With the rising number of recipients of welfare programs for the needy, several states in America tried to pass a law that requires every recipient to undergo random and regular drug tests. The policy says that if recipient is positive of illegal drugs intake, the food stamp can be denied. However, there are also several states that voted against the said policy. Two of them are Illinois and Oregon. Their disapproval is mainly because drug testing is expensive. One government official from Oregon said that it is not a practical way to spend government’s resources (Oregon Live LLC website).
Some of the states however passed the said policy as of 2013 and the states include Arizona, Missouri, Florida, Kansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Utah and Tennessee (Oregon Live LLC website). In Minnesota, the law has been existing since 1997 but early this year, the legislative body of the county modified the policy. Because it is too expensive to execute random drug testing, they modified it by making the drug test applicable for those who have drug felony cases within a ten-year period. The policy according to the legislative body is a precautionary measure to avoid the spending of money that is supposedly for kids and food to be spent in drugs (MinnPost website).
In Missouri, the law requires the all applicants for any welfare program to undergo drug test before they are accepted. If an applicant resists or fails in the test, he or she will not be legible for the benefits for over three years. In Georgia, a person who is positive of substance abuse will be ineligible for the cash out for one month once the test is negative (National Conference on State Legislatures website).
The random drug tests have been criticized all over the country since its popularity in 1996. Legislators and other critics said that the test only makes the welfare programs inaccessible for the poorest of the poor (Star Tribune website). Some states require the recipients to pay for the drug test with an amount not less than $15.00. In this case, they stressed that a poor family can hardly survive in their daily struggles for food and the additional burden of drug test hamper them from accessing their rightful benefits in terms of food stamps of children’s health care. Some criticized the policy by saying that it is based on the misconception that the needy are normally abusers of substance. Moreover, some states in America are firm that the random drug testing is not worth implementing because aside from the delay of accessing food stamps, it will be an additional spending of time and resources instead of having to help more of the needy.
On the other hand, as of 2014, there are already eleven states in the country that passed specific policies on drug test for the recipients of welfare (National Conference on State Legislatures website). One of their reasons is to ensure the proper usage of funds. The states do not want any centavo to be used in destroying the lives of children by doling out money that can be used for substance abuse. The policy in Minnesota is enforced to instil responsibility among the recipients of the tax payers’ money (Star Tribune website). A policy maker in the said state mentioned that the tax payers’ money should not go to the veins of crack addicts but to the needy.
Works Cited
Williams, Sarah. “Law requiring random drug testing of certain welfare recipients will get another test.” MinnPost,(8 Jan. 2014). Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
National Conference of State Legislatures. “Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients and Public Assistance.” NCSL, (6 Nov. 2014). Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
Serres, Chris. “Drug Test of Welfare Recipients Proved Costly.” StarTribune, (27 Dec. 2013). Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
Yount, Ben. “Illinois rewarded for misspending only $52 million on food stamps.” Illinois Watchdog.or, (19 Jun. 2013). Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
Zheng, Yuxing. “Should Oregon Require Welfare Applicants, Recipients Pass Drug Tests?” Oregon Live LLC, (2014). Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
