Mandatory Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients
Should welfare recipients be drug tested? We have many different opinions about this subject. The problem is that people are receiving free money from the government and purchasing unnecessary or illegal products. Is that fair to people who work hard to earn their money and pay the taxes to support these addictions? No, it’s not fair. The money should go straight to support the individuals’ families until they can support themselves without the help of the government. People who can afford to buy drugs don’t need help from the government.
Welfare should be used for its purpose only. Without drug testing people who receive the benefit, the government has no knowledge of how the money from welfare is being used. Drug tests would solve the misusing of the welfare money, and help keep recipients clean so they can keep a job and they can take care of their family with their own earned money. Why is there welfare? Some people run into difficulties in their lives where they may need some time of assistance; in these cases, welfare comes into place.
Welfare is meant to help people who really need it. As the saying goes, “Bad things happen to good people,” and when people can’t afford to put food on their table or can’t afford a home to live in, welfare takes action and helps them. Welfare exists to make sure people can get back on their feet, and that’s what welfare checks should be used for and only for. People on welfare should be using that money effectively and meanwhile they should be looking for a job so they can afford their home and food and at one point get out of the welfare system.
People are not supposed to lay back and pretend that their welfare check is their salary and use these funds for whatever they want (Welfare Information). But it happens. Unfortunately, welfare has become a way of life for a lot of people in the US. They sit around waiting for their next check with no intention of looking for a job or to improve their lives in anyway (Krannebitter). Therefore welfare is creating dependable people who don’t care to get out of their couch to make a better living for themselves.
The worst part is that a lot of the people on welfare also use the money that come from the pocket of people who get up early in the morning to work almost every day, to buy drugs. If people are struggling to pay rent or to get food for their family, how are they having enough to buy drugs? What happens is that a lot of the times adults take the money that they are supposed to buy clothing, food, school materials for their kids and instead use it to buy drugs. That is not air to people in the work force because we are basically funding their drug addictions, and it’s definitely not fair to their kids, because that money is supposed to help them live a better childhood (“Welfare Misuse and Drugs”). So what can we do to prevent welfare money going to drugs? We should consider drug testing welfare recipients. By doing so, we would make sure that every person who receives the help from the government is clean and are using the money efficiently.
Also it would make sure they are not losing jobs because of their addictions. People who are against drug testing welfare recipients always say that the 4th amendment make the drug testing unconstitutional. People who don’t know what the 4th amendment is all about, it basically states that the U. S. constitution protects people from unreasonable search (Fourth Amendment). So how come the 4th amendment doesn’t protect me from being drug tested for a job?
I’m willing to work and earn my money and to do so I undergo through a drug test every so often, so how come the people who are in the welfare system, who by the way receives the money from the taxes I pay from my paycheck, for free, should not be tested? It’s just common sense. The drug testing would encourage people to stop using drugs and use the money in a more productive way, and as a result of that, improving their lives. Welfare money is not always used for its purpose.
With that in mind, the government should come up with a solution to solve this problem who is taking money away from people who really need the system. That solution is called drug testing. Drug tests should be a part of the application for welfare and it should happen also during the period when the person is getting help from the government, as people get tested to keep their job. Drug test would not only make sure that the welfare money is used properly, it would also make sure the recipients are clean and therefore can be more productive for their families and our society.
