Drug testing welfare recipients
Some states in the United States of America have enacted or proposed legislation requiring drug testing of people applying for welfare. As of early 2017, 15 US states had passed legislation enabling drug testing of welfare applicants or recipients, primarily in relation to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families payments. Drug testing of welfare recipients has been proposed but not implemented in Canada, the UK, and Australia. In New Zealand, recipients of some payments may be required to take a drug test if this is a requirement of a potential employer or trainer.
Arguments for
Proponents of such programs have supported them with a variety of goals in mind, including: getting help for drug users on welfare payments by referring those testing positive to treatment, avoiding "subsidizing drug habits" with public money, deterring drug use, reducing state welfare spending, and protecting children.Arguments against
Arguments against drug testing welfare recipients have claimed that they are unethical, politically motivated, or legally problematic; that they will cause harms; and that they are unlikely to be effectiveness and/or cost-effective. The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed welfare drug testing laws in Florida and expressed concern about the proposal gaining traction in other states.Ethical/political/legal arguments:
- Eric Liu has criticized drug tests of welfare recipients, which are often promoted by Republican lawmakers, as hypocritical, as they promote government paternalism.
- Some suggest drug testing welfare recipients is linked to discrimination against welfare recipients or to racism.
- Public policy professor Harold Pollack wrote that "Other physical and mental health problems are far more prevalent. Yet these less-moralized concerns receive much less attention from legislators or the general public."
- The ethical acceptability of drug testing welfare recipients has been questioned on the bases that it does not meet ethical standards of necessity, proportionality, and a reasonable chance of success; and that they violate privacy and can strengthen inequalities.
- Almost all scholarly articles on the subject of suspicionless drug testing of welfare recipients have concluded that this testing violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. For this reason many programs now involve initial screening with a psychological assessment tool, with those considered likely to have a drug problem then referred for testing.
- Executives of the non-profit group CLASP have stated that the laws will have a chilling effect on the willingness of existing welfare recipients to admit themselves to drug treatment.
- Some critics argue the programs are unlikely to meet their aims and that some of the aims are in conflict with each other in practice.
- Opponents have criticized these laws for costing more money than they save. The cost per positive test varies because of differences in state programs, but a review of 14 programs in 2016 reported costs per positive test result of between $200 and $7,006.