Mandatory Drug Testing for Welfare Wastes Resources

I read an intriguing piece by J.F. Sargent over at Cracked.com titled 5 Surprising Insider Facts About Welfare.

One of those “5 surprising insider facts” detailed how the government requires that people who apply for welfare pass a mandatory drug test.

“The biggest waste of taxpayer dollars on welfare is, ironically, the money we spend on trying to prevent people from getting welfare: for example, every time the government tries to save money by preventing drug users from collecting benefits, enforcing that law ends up costing more than it saves. Studies repeatedly show that welfare recipients use drugs at a lower rate than the rest of the population, because it turns out that drugs are super expensive. This makes the vast majority of the mandatory drug tests given to welfare recipients pointless. It’s sort of like hiring Jason Statham to follow around every kid who walks into your store — sure, you’re going cut down on shoplifting, but you have to pay Jason Statham way more money than you’re saving, just for him to stand around looking mean most of the time.”

It’s a great article and I highly recommend reading it, especially if you’re someone who harbors preconceptions about being on Welfare. It is very easy to judge those on the grind from your cushy, warm house. I’ll admit that there was a time when I held prejudices about welfare myself. I had a relative who exemplified the negative image of a person on welfare, and I’m not talking about the image of needy folks.

This relative of mine was straight-up defrauding the system, collecting food stamps and raiding food banks for free household items (even Christmas presents) that she did not need. Through a loophole in the system, she was able to effectively steal from those who truly needed help.

Needless to say, it soured my opinion of the whole state-assistance program. I held this belief for years until my wife and I fell on hard times ourselves. When you’re literally looking for quarters in the couch to keep your lights on and living off microwaved ramen, you look at the system a little differently. In one of the Batman movies, Christian Bale as Batman talks about how his view on criminals changed dramatically after the first time he had to steal food so he wouldn’t starve. That year, an anonymous friend of ours knew we were struggling and one night around the holidays we got a knock at the door. When we opened it, there was no one there, just a large bag of toys for our kids. I have never been so touched and humbled.

Forcing drug testing wastes resources, but also gives people unconscious permission to judge and label the poorest and neediest of us, or to justify turning a blind eye to them under the auspices of calling them drug addicts. Also, based on the racial disparities of the welfare demographic, this requirement is also arguably racist.

Similar to how prosecuting stoners is way more costly and detrimental than the use of cannabis itself, the amount of money taken by the relatively small amount of people who do successfully game the welfare system pales next to the amount spent trying to catch and stop such theft through drug testing.

Take a moment and read the Cracked piece if you can, it’s very accurate and might generate some compassion in your heart.