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Drug Testing Pros And Cons

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Drug Testing Pros And Cons
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federally funded block grant which provides needy families assistance in finding and obtaining work opportunities. The funds are given to states to distribute. States are allowed some flexibility in how they chose to distribute these funds.
There has been a recent movement among states to implement drug testing for applicants and recipients to receive this assistance. Many people see this as a violation of their 4th amendment rights. The ideology behind drug testing is to weed out misuse of funds by recipients, thus alleviating budgetary concerns in hard economic times. Are there other means of easing budgetary issues without potentially violating the 4th amendment rights of the poor? …show more content…
Alleviation of budgetary concerns is not guaranteed by the reduction of caseloads due to positive tests (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation). Where challenged, courts have determined that suspicionless testing is a violation of the 4th Amendment (Schaberg). North Carolina’s Governor, after vetoing a bill to implement drug testing, stated, “Drug testing …applicants … could lead to inconsistent application … That 's a recipe for government overreach and unnecessary government intrusion. This is not a smart way to combat drug abuse. Similar efforts in other states have proved to be expensive for taxpayers and did little to actually help fight drug addiction.” …show more content…
"Substance Abuse and Homelessness." July 2009. National Coalition for the Homeless. 6 August 2013 <http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/addiction.pdf>.
National Institute of Health. "NIAAA Researchers Estimate Alcohol and Drug Use, Abuse, and Dependence Among Welfare Recipients." 23 October 1996. National Institute on Alocohol Abuse and Alocoholism. 7 August 2013 <http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/niaaa-researchers-estimate-alcohol-and-drug-use-abuse-and-dependence-among>.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Drug Testing Welfare Recipients: Recent Proposals and Continuing Controversies . Issue Brief. Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011.
Prah, Pamela M. "More States Pass Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients." 17 May 2012. Stateline . 24 August 2013 <http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/more-states-pass-drug-testing-for-welfare-recipients-85899388650>.
Schaberg, Abby E. "State Drug Testing Requirements for Welfare Recipients: Are Missouri and Florida’s New Laws Constitutional?" 6 April 2012. University of Missouri School of Law. 6 August 2013
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