April 19, 2011
Should states require drug tests for public assistance?
Posted: 04:35 PM ET
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Twenty-seven U.S. states, as red as Arizona and Georgia and as blue as New York and California, may soon be adding another requirement for those applying for aid such as unemployment or welfare: Being clean.
More than half the states in this country are considering legislation that would require recipients of public assistance to pass a drug test before getting their handout from the government.
The details vary from state to state, of course.
A bill in the South Carolina state senate, for example, would suspend unemployment checks to any person who didn't get a job because of a failed drug test. A measure in Arizona would call for random drug testing for all people who receive welfare. In Massachusetts, a bill has been introduced requiring random drug tests for recipients of public assistance who have prior drug convictions. If you fail the drug test, you would be placed by the state into a rehab program because of the state's mandatory health care program.
Of course, if these measures pass, they will likely be opposed by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches. In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that "suspicionless searches," like many drug tests, violate Fourth Amendment rights, unless those tests are conducted for specific reasons like public safety.
On the other hand, I don't want my tax money being used to buy illegal drugs. And that seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Here’s my question to you: Should states require drug tests in exchange for public assistance?
