Essay Sample on the Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Policy

Lately, the ongoing debate is whether recipients of welfare assistance should be tested for drugs or not and whether the state or the local government drug testing of welfare recipients is legal. The reason behind welfare is to help the recipients address some of their basic needs (Goetzl). Narcotic drugs cannot be considered an essential human need. Welfare recipients on drugs are most likely going to use all their benefits acquired on drugs instead of the basic needs that they require. Randomly drug testing of welfare recipients would help decrease the number of the beneficiaries taking advantage of the system (Wincup). The policy like would insist on recipients to stay drug-free and expose the abusers wasting the tax payers money. If an employer requires you to be drug tested to be hired, then there is no reason not to test those that require and receive assistance. The essay, therefore, seeks to illustrate the importance of drug testing welfare recipients policy.

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Welfare recipients should not be made to believe its a one-way handout. They should be given assistance by a return obligation which is an expectation of responsible use of the assistance provided to them (Goetzl).

The cost of Welfare Assistant is currently increasing and is almost exceeding a trillion per year. Due to this, taxpaying citizens have a right to demand that their money is utilized efficiently with some given to the recipients who require it and only those who are responsible and can not spend the money on drugs. According to Goetzl, drug testing can help reduce irresponsible spending and misuse of money. A perfect example is that of Floridas policy that required drug testing for welfare applicants, The policy aided in the reduction of the number of new welfare enrollments by about 48 percent (Wincup). With this, the likely applicants who use illegal drugs have chosen not to enroll in the system, therefore, continuing with this vice of drug abuse

Opponents of drug testing recipients are of the view that denying welfare assistance to illegal drug users sets back families as money for the beneficiaries are being taken away from them and used in substance abuse. The taxpayers, therefore, should not turn a blind eye on those abusing the system and in effect condone their illegal behavior while missing out on an opportunity to help these drug abusers work on turning their lives around and eventually get them to be of great assistance within the community.

Anyone getting any benefit from the system should submit to a drug test because not only would it help the recipient hooked on drugs; it also has a potential of saving the taxpayer millions of dollars and eliminating fraud and abuse from the system (Wincup).

In conclusion, no taxpayer would want to see their hard-earned money given out to anyone on welfare to use on drugs. Taxpayers have the right to be informed of the progress their hard earned money is making and in what ways it is being utilized. The money requires being used for a good cause and not to fund illegal drug habits of welfare recipients. This policy needs to be in enacted and enforced in all states because law-abiding populaces are protected and unlawful drug abusers penalized.

Work Cited

Goetzl, Celia. "Government Mandated Drug Testing For Welfare Recipients: Special Need Or Unconstitutional Condition?." University Of Pennsylvania Journal Of Constitutional Law 15.(2013): 1539. LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews. Web. 26 June 2016.

Wincup, Emma. "Policy Analysis: Thoroughfares, Crossroads And Cul-De-Sacs: Drug Testing Of Welfare Recipients." International Journal Of Drug Policy 25.(2014): 1031-1037. ScienceDirect. Web. 26 June 2016.