I recently met with a friendly colleague over coffee. As we updated each other on our respective lives, careers, politics and everything in between, he showed me an article he read. The headline stated “States add drug-testing hurdle for welfare applicants as budgets tighten.”
After I recovered from the shock of the headline, I asked a rhetorical “huh?” Then I told him thanks for the editorial idea. I knew I was going to write about the subject matter in this week’s paper.
According to the New York Times article, “Policy makers in three dozen states this year proposed drug testing for people receiving benefits like welfare, unemployment assistance, job training, food stamps and public housing.”
In short, these states want anyone in need of public assistance to provide a urine sample for drug testing.
I could not believe the blatant manner in which states were so willing to perpetuate a stereotype: that many, most or all low-income people are drug users.
The American Civil Liberties Union calls this barbaric act “unreasonable search and seizure.”
Supporters of the policy want to make sure that public benefits are not spent to support addiction. But again, that perpetuates a stereotype. What policy makers in those three dozen states who are considering the proposal need to remember is that America is just finding its way out of a very deep recession. A recession that resulted in 14 million jobs being lost. That means millions of families faced tremendous financial difficulty. Those policy makers obviously think that today’s low income person is uneducated, shiftless, and sits at home playing video games or hanging out on street corners while smoking weed. They need a reality check.
Many of today’s low-income people used to be middle and upper class Americans who went to work everyday and were contributing members of society just like those who are currently employed. The economic downturn resulted in their need for government assistance and they are not being lazy.
The article mentions that nearly 20 states restrict unemployment payments for anyone who lost their job because of drug use. And more than a dozen states “refuse welfare payments to anyone convicted of a drug felony.” Florida mandates drug testing for its welfare applicants and the individual has to pay the $40 testing fee. If they pass, the state will reimburse them.
I am a law-abiding taxpayer like the next person. And like the next person, I sometimes get frustrated when my tax dollars are being spent on things that I don’t agree with. I also get irritated knowing that some people use welfare and other forms of public assistance as a standard of life, as opposed to the temporary helping hand it is intended to be. However, it is always important to look at the larger picture; an image that consists of far more than one “type” or “group” of people.
In looking at the larger picture, I wholeheartedly believe that mandating urine tests is wrong. It’s unethical and it’s a negative form of profiling.
What the states who restrict assistance to drug users will probably find is an increase in crime. If they don’t have jobs (for whatever reason) and they don’t have public assistance, how are they going to feed their children or themselves? How will they pay rent? Some may resort to crime. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?
For a very long time, I have believed that the government would find a way to restrict public assistance or do away with it completely. That’s why I would get so frustrated with people who abused the system…because they were making it hard for the individuals who really needed temporary help.
Rather than mandate that all people on welfare be subjected to drug testing, I think a detailed analysis needs to be done of individuals who have been on welfare for an extended period of time (five or more years). The analysis would determine what, if anything these people did to improve their situation. If they didn’t do anything substantial, then look at reducing and ultimately eliminating funding. At least this way you weed out the people who may be abusing the system. Of course exceptions should be made to for those who are mentally and physically disabled.
As I discussed the possibility of mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients with my friends and associates, the reviews were mixed, though most were opposed. What are your thoughts? Email us at newsroom@IndyRecorder.com or post a message on our Facebook page.
