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Opening Arguments

Stay clean for welfare

I hate it when I have mixed feelings about the ACLU:

A new Florida law that requires welfare recipients to pass a drug test violates their constitutional rights, the American Civil Liberties Union is charging in a lawsuit.

The suit asserts that the mandatory drug testing is a violation of the right against unreasonable search and seizure.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the drug testing requirement into law in May, fulfilling one of his campaign promises.

Under Scott's drug testing law, welfare applicants are required to pay for their own drug testing - about $30 to $35 - but are reimbursed if the tests are returned negative.

We need to take "unreasonable search and seizure" seriously, so there's a defensible principle involved here. Things like random drug tests at work or blanket roadblocks for DUI checks offend the Bill of Rights. But the Florida law doesn't seem quite as unconstitutional to me as it does to the ACLU. A lot of companies require drug tests for prospective workers, and whether we like it or not, they have the right to set their terms of employment. Welfare is given to people in lieu of a paycheck, so isn't it reasonable to make the recipients subject to the same requirements as prospective employees?

Comments

Doug
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 12:14pm

Maybe if it was a prerequisite for receiving any government money.

My most serious issue with this kind of policy is that the children of people who use drugs still need to eat and have a roof over their head. I don't know if this program has contingency to provide for the children of welfare recipients who test positive for drugs.

Also, I seem to recall reading that the cost of the tests well exceeded the amount of money withheld because of positive test results; making the endeavor a failure in terms of cost savings.

littlejohn
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 12:24pm

I'm offended by drug tests for any reason. They aren't really "drug" tests; they're marijuana tests.
Of all the drugs they test for, only marijuana stays in the system for much more than a day. A brain-scrambled junkie could pass the test so long as he has a brief notice before the test is administered. But an otherwise law-abiding citizen who smoked a joint last week will probably fail.
Marijuana is effectively legal in many states, and ought to be in all. It is non-addictive and is certainly less harmful than the cigarettes and beer I presume every adult may legally consume.
You're fond of the term "nanny state." This is a situation where it's perfectly appropriate.
If a state wants to give money to poor people, then let them do so. But don't follow them around telling them what they may spend it on. What's next, a Twinkie ban?

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