Welfare recipients losing their benefits over drugs. In 2012 more than one-fifth of the U.S. population, or 52.2 million people, received some kind of means-tested public assistance every month. How many of those recipients do you think are using the assistance for illegal substances? Seven states- Utah, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi- already initiated the act of drug testing recipients of welfare benefits. This insures they are not under the influence while receiving welfare. Welfare drug testing is an efficient way to make sure the aid is being used properly. Although most people pass the drug tests, some fail. Those that fail lose their aide. Welfare money is not for drugs, it's for keeping…show more content… Many of the news articles that have been written about welfare drug testing have cited extremely low rates of positive test results as evidence showing the ineffectiveness of drug testing programs. A low amount of people actually fail the drug tests, but there are some people that do not pass the test and are removed from the program. Money is a large issue, this whole thing is to save money, and it is saving a little bit of money debating on how many recipients fail the screening. The Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union recently showed that drug testing is actually costing the state money. The $30 spent per test ended up costing an average of $45,000 more than the state saved in welfare payments. In Florida very few people tested negative for drug testing, it could be different in other states due to the amount of illegal substance users in that certain state, it varies. $30 for a drug test is a cheaper route than spending hundreds of dollars contributing to just one family’s life when it is being used improperly. Our tax paying dollars can be used more effectively on other need based families or on other tax supported programs. The more people removed, the less money is being taken from the taxpayers. Also at the same time the people on welfare are still getting the money they need and are able to put it to good
