Should welfare recipients be drug tested?

Because the government does not have the right to invade your body in order to receive government benefits. I continue to be stumped as to how people who advocate less government, and considers government involvement to be invasive, supports this.

However, if one supports this idea, I'm sure they'd support testing people receiving unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, farm subsidies, school lunches, emergency room treatment, and any agency receiving federal government funding (hospitals, schools, etc.). OK?

Edit: Florida's governor stated that people on welfare do drugs at a much higher rate than the general public. So he became amazingly silent when his drug testing program showed that, while the percent of Florida citizens who use drugs is at 8%, the percent of welfare recipients who tested positive was 2%. Oops.

And to address your "monetary reason," it cost the state of Florida $40 for every negative test.

Yes, they should be, and anybody else who receives any type of government check should be drug tested as well. Anybody who fails a drug test should not be qualified to receive a tax refund check, a social security check, a paycheck for any federal employee, etc. Anybody who fails a drug test should be thrown in jail. This way we will stimulate the economy by building more jails, and hiring more prison guards, cooks, clerical workers, etc.

Actually, I don't think we go far enough. Anybody who benefits from any kind of government spending should have to undergo a drug test. This would include anybody who's ever driven on a public road, watched television or listened to the radio, used a telephone or cellphone or the internet, used an airport or train station, or gone to a public school; or used a library or hospital, or visited a public building.

Edit: Sorry, tonalc2, I'm a slow typist, and I started typing my answer before I saw yours. Glad to see someone has some of the same thoughts...

Because drug criminalisation doesn't work if your objective is to stop people from doing drugs.

I'm all for drug testing welfare recipients but not for the fact that they wouldn't recieve any treatment for their drug addiction afterwards.

If you simply cut off the welfare of drug addicts crime would quadruple and people would starve.

Yes, they can keep doing drugs and collecting welfare

People who are on "welfare" have had to have worked in order to qualify for those benefits. Cutting off what is theirs via an invasion of privacy is completely unconstitutional.

in my opioion yes because they could be on drugs and they using the foodstamps to pay for the drugs as cash

well, i think 'welfare' should be eliminated in favor of subsidizing work, so then the question is moot since the employer will have the right to drug test applicants.

There is NO good argument for it.

Florida found that out, the hard way

Not me. I take my drugs, no problem.

YES.

I had to pass drug test before applying my current job.