DRUG TESTING OF WELFARE RECEPIENTS

Questioning some posts on FB about testing recipients of welfare benefits peaked my interest in the facts. I suppose the interest stemmed from having been the child of welfare recipients for several years.

We were on welfare because a social worker felt that our “self-sustained” livelihood did not meet the social norms of the day. Housing and clothing were less than average but food was plentiful and nutritious, without pesticides or chemical preservatives.

The social worker insisted that they provide assistance and it was accepted. However, they failed to say that once assistance was accepted, the small farm from which our food was grown or gathered had to be liquidated. Necessitating the purchase of house only. So my parents complied and my father began working the timber industry (Uneducated, farming was his only experience and skill to provide for his family).

He soon became ill from a back injury and heart disease and could not continue to work. Diagnostic tools and treatment were not yet available in those days. The humility and illness eventually led to depression and the use of barbiturates as prescribed by his physician. He was not a user of alcohol at any time.

So it is my opinion that the welfare system drove my father and our family into dependence on the welfare system.

So those who categorize welfare recipients as possible drug users disturb me. Here are some facts:

1.) The Welfare Reform Act was authorized but not required in 1996. The act imposes mandatory drug testing as a prerequisite to receive welfare assistance.
2.) Drug use among welfare recipients is no greater than the rest of the population, as a percentage.
3.) According to a study by the National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism shows no difference between the general population and welfare recipients.
4.) Seventy percent of drug users who are ages 18-49 are employed full time. It is presumed that a much higher percent are alcohol users.
5.) The average cost of a drug test is about $42 per person. But the cost to for personnel to administer the tests, to ensure confidentiality, to run confirmatory tests to find false positives, cross identification with legal prescribed drugs and poppy seeds is not included.
6.) Since the relativity of substance abuse between the general population and welfare recipients are equal, it is important to note the findings of an employer of 10000 employees. About one half of one percent (49) of the employees tested positive. They estimate that the cost to test all employees was $20,000. It was fiscally unsound.
7.) The above numbers do not include any possible legal costs that might be incurred if prosecuted and the cost of incarceration if convicted.
8.) The cost for drug testing and the consequences does NOT include testing for the use of alcohol.

I am not a drug abuser, and do not want to imply that I approve of substance abuse.

My purpose is to state that ALL WELFARE RECEPIENTS are not “druggies” or “alcoholics”.

Required drug testing of welfare recipients is fiscally irresponsible and useless.