Do you feel anyone on welfare or government assistance should be screened for illegal drugs or alcohol usage?

Question

If so, and they fail should they be cut off assitance?

Working people get screened for drug usage in public jobs, the jobs that support welfare. I could not keep my job if I were drunk or taking drugs.

Also do you feel that the number of dependents (children) in a given household that the Govenment supports should be limited? Would'nt this discourage people from having children for more Gov't assistance.

Answer 1

absolutely, companies require it for most jobs. of course, this would include illegal drugs only, those not prescribed by doctors. if they are using drugs, that would explain why they don't work and they should be cut off immediately or put into some public service work..i think they should be in that anyway, unless disabled. if they abuse alcohol, they should be required to participate in some rehab program while receiving assistance.

you can't make people limit how many children they will have but you can limited the number who you will receive government support and if they chose to have more after becoming on assistance, that would be their choice but no addition funds would probably mean that they would be more responsible.

Answer 2

Should any Corporate CEO whose company receives Corporate Welfare, should they be required to undergo screening for illegal drug use or alcohol abuse? If they fail should they be cut off from assistance? The US government spent 92 BILLION dollars in 2006 alone on Corporate Welfare. If you started a business and it failed, would the government bail you out? NO! So WHY are these GIANT Corporations being supported on the backs of hard working Americans? If we can help the Most Fortunate in our country, why can't we help the LEAST Fortunate? It's the right thing to do.

Answer 3

I can see your point on this, but whats next - dropping the boxers, bending over and coughing before getting on a plane?

Aren't American's micro managed enough at work than to have an ever intrusive Government getting deeper and deeper into our lives.

Yes, I agree that they should screen people on welfare for drug use. But there needs to be a valid reason. This country is not running law on guilty until proven innocent.

If you take one step in that direction it grows and grows until every aspect of our lives are controlled by an out of control Government.

A welfare applicants history or record can prove a lot, without going through the trouble and cost of screening everyone in the system.

If you ask me we should be screening and doing background checks/social security checks non-english speaking applicants more than drug users. They have more of a negative financial impact on our system than a few thousand drug users.

Answer 4

Medicare is a health subsidy for elderly retirees. The main government health insurance benefit for the poor is Medicaid. Hospitals can seek emergency Medicaid reimbursement for any non-paying patient, regardless of legal status. Hospitals are required by law to stabilize any patient who shows up in the emergency room, regardless of the patient's legal status or ability to pay. If a hospital thinks it won't be able to collect money from a patient, it bills Medicaid instead. No valid SSN = free emergency room care. Fun fact: 87% of all households headed by illegal immigrants get at least one kind of federal means-tested benefit. These households get food stamps, WIC, cash welfare, and housing subsidies on behalf of US-born children. The benefits are in the child's name but it is the parents' reported income that determines whether the child qualifies and it is the parents who control the benefits. No family on assistance takes food bought with an EBT card and locks it in a cupboard with a sign reading "For US citizens only." Food stamps, WIC, and cash payments are shared among all family members, one reason why all public assistance except for Medicaid should be reformulated as a family assistance package with a benefit cap. If the parents have more children after getting on welfare, they don't get any increase in benefits whatsoever. Means-tested benefits make up 18% of the federal budget, and that's only the federal contribution. States also pay for part of the costs of food stamps, Medicaid, and the like for their residents, and California, Massachusetts, and others also use state tax money to fund their own state assistance programs, many of which require recipients to show only state residency, not legal status. Yes, illegal immigrants DO get welfare.

Answer 5

Although it would be nice it violates ones rights.

When you enter into a work agreement you sign onto a contact and are bound by those terms. This is why drug screening for work is not a violation of rights. Welfare recipients do not have such an agreement there are no terms that they are bound by and therefore entitled to public assistance just as the disabled and elderly are.

Answer 6

I believe that everyone on government assistance should be tested for illegal drug use and alcohol use due to the fact if they are clean they could have a job and keep it. If they are clean and are in actual need of assistance they should be tested every month to make sure they are still clean. I also do not agree with the younger people applying for disability when they are perfectly capable of working. To me as a tax payer, I am very upset that myself and others like me have to pay for their bills and their habits when they walk the streets and go out drinking and partying on the money that the tax payers provide, when we as tax payers have to bust our butt to pay bills and take care of them.

Answer 7

absolutely they should be given drug tests...
no, we shouldnt deny people assistance based on the number of children they have.
the reason is, assistance is assistance. we pased laws that limited the amount of time people can get it, and say you have a family of 12 whos parents lose jobs.. those people shouldnt be denied help because they have 12 children.
i think the law that was passed is sufficient. you can only be on government assistance for 5 years. thats enough time to get an education and find a better job.

Answer 8

Setting up a Department of Urine Collection and maintaining it sounds like an expensive, big government solution to me. As for illegal drugs, I don't take them but believe that drug testing is the ultimate in invasion of privacy.

Answer 9

I think that all government officials should also be screened... and cops and soldiers and politicians and lobbyists. If poor people don't deserve help because of dependency on illegal drugs, then rich people should be held similarly accountable for their choices in life. Unless you believe wealth and power earn you exemption from the law.

I think you should be screened.

I will accept that I should be screened as well.

May as well be consistent.

Answer 10

No. Just because you can test for drugs, does not mean that everyone should. The cost of such a program would be astronomical.

Keep the government out of people's lives.