Mandatory Drug Testing for Public Assistance

Public Assistance is government aid to needy, aged, or disabled persons and to dependent children (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). All public assistance applicants should be required to take a mandatory drug test before they can qualify to receive any form of public assistance. Drug tests can detect a number of different illegal substances like, marijuana, steroids, amphetamines, cocaine, PCP, and opiates. “More than 22 million Americans age 12 and older - nearly 9% of the U.S. population - use illegal drugs, according to the government’s 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health”(CNN). One should never feel they are entitled to public assistance, it should be felt as more of a privilege. Sadly, in the last ten years, our economy has unfortunately depreciated rapidly. The economy is so bad at this point, that it can be very difficult to find employment. For some, it can be impossible, especially if uneducated. The result is that more people, now than ever, are applying for public assistance. The amount of public assistance being paid for food stamps, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is so high, it is imperative that we find a way to fix this situation to prevent so many people from taking advantage of something others in this world so desperately need and rely on to survive, not to feed their addictions.
This money can, and it should be used for something so much better. For example, the money that the applicant would have received considering they passed the drug test should be used to rehabilitate the individual. Addiction is a compulsive physiological need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be physically, psychologically, or socially harmful (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Assuming, that our public assistance programs could get mandatory drug

Cited: “Public Assistance”. Merriam-Webster.com. 2011. http://www.merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, if you accessed it on (27 February 2013). “Addiction”. Merriam-Webster.com. 2011. http://www.merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, if you accessed it on (27 February 2013). Coolican, J. P. "OPINION: If Goal is Recovery, Why Stop Drug Testing at Welfare Recipients?" McClatchy - Tribune Business News Feb 08 2013. Ox Research; ProQuest Central; ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.