Pilzak1

EvanJ.Pilzak
Ms.Robillard
LA8Hour1
12March2015
FoodForThought:WhyAreWeWastingMoneyOnDrugTesting?
HowwouldyoufeelifyourbosscameuptoyouandsaidImgonnaneedyoutopeein
thiscup,orImnotgonnapayyou?Youprobablywouldntkeepthatjob,wouldyou?Butwhat
ifthatjobwasyouronlywayofgettingfoodonthetable?Thatswhatitslikeforpeoplewho
havetoturntopublicassistance.Theyhavetogothroughalongandgruellingprocess,thatdrug
testsaregoingtomakemuchworse,toreceivebenefits.Theotheroption,ifyoucouldevencall
itthat,istogowithoutanymoneyuntiltheyfindajob.Currently,someUSresidentshavebeen
fooledintothinkingthatdrugtestingpublicassistanceapplicantsisagoodidea,butthisisfalse.
Idontbelievethatweshoulddrugtestapplicantsforpublicassistance.
Iwillbeginwithapplicantsforpublicassistanceshouldnotbesubjectedtodrugtesting
becauseitdiscriminatesagainstthepoor.Mostpeopleimagineasinglemomwithseveralkids,
watchingaflatscreenTV,whileplayingonaniPhone6,asthestandardrecipient.Thisispartof
thehugestigmasurroundingpeopleonpublicassistance.Theyareviewedasthelowestofthe
low,gettingafreeridefromthegovernment.Thesedrugtestsarejustmakingthosefalsestigmas
worse.Mostcitizensdontknowthegistofpublicassistance,andtendtodiscriminateagainst
thepeopleusingit.Idontthinkthatmanyofyouwanttobeforcedtotakeadrugtest.Well,by
drugtestingforpublicassistancethegovernmentisforcingsomeofthestate'spoorest,most
vulnerablecitizenstosubmittohumiliatingandexpensivedrugtestsbeforetheycanreceive

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benefits.Bydoingthis,peopledownontheirluckareforcedtodosomethingmostofuscouldnt
evenimaginedoing.Whenpeoplearesubjectedtoadrugtest,thisincreasestheamountof
shametheyfeelwhileapplyingforbenefits.Thisprocedurealsomakesitworseforanyonethat
doesmakeitintoaprogram,becausenowtheyfeellikethegovernmentdoesnttrustthem.By
doingthesetests,fartoomuchisbeingassumedaboutthecharacterofthelessfortunatepeople
insociety.Theassumptionisthatthereasonpeopleneedfinancialhelpisbecausetheyaredrug
addicts!Asiftheprocessapplyingforpublicassistancewasntdifficultenough,nowpeople
havetodoahighlyoffensivetesttoo
("DrugTestingWelfareRecipients")
!Itcantbeassumed
thatacertainpartofthepopulationispronetodruguse.Ofallthefinanciallevelsinoursociety,
wouldntthepeoplethatcantafforddrugsbetheleastlikelytousethem(Cunha)?Next,Illtell
youwhythoseassumptionscouldntbefurtherfromthetruth.
AnotherreasonthatIbelieveweshouldntdrugtestpublicassistanceapplicantsis
becausetheamountofpeopletestingpositivefordrugsisminiscule.Thepublicdoesntrealize
howfewpeopleusedrugswhilereceivingpublicassistance.InUtah,only2.5%ofallthe
applicantstestedpositiveintheirmandatorydrugtest.Thatmeans97.5%oftheapplicantsdont
usedrugs.Thatsahugepercentageofdrugfreepeople!Clearly,2.5%isnotalargeenough
amounttomakeitagoodideatotestallpublicassistanceapplicants.In2011,Missouripasseda
lawrequiringallpublicassistanceapplicantstopassadrugtest.Afterthetestingwascomplete,
only48ofthe38,970applicantstestedpositive.Thesenumbersarefartoosmalltohaveany
actualgainfromtestingtheapplicants.Thesenumbersaresosmallcomparedtotheamountof
peoplesufferingfrommorepressingmatters,thatitbeginstocallintoquestionwhythe
governmentdecidedtodrugtestpublicassistanceapplicantsinthefirstplace.Whyisthe

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governmenttargetingsuchasmallamountofpeople?Anotherstatethatsufferedthesamefateis
Mississippi.Only2ofthe3,656applicantstestedpositivefordruguse!Thinkabouthowmuch
timetheywastedtofind2drugusers
(CovertandIsrael)
!Thatsabout0.05%ofallthe
applicantsthattookthedrugtest!Idontknowifitcangetmuchsmallerthanthat.NextIlltell
whyhavingsuchasmallnumberofpeopletestingpositivefordrugsisasfinancially
consequentialasawar.
ThefinalreasonIwillshareisthatthegovernmentshouldnotdrugtestpublicassistance
applicantsisbecauseitisacompletewasteoftaxpayersmoney.Oneofthestatesthatwasted
themostmoneywasOklahoma.Ifyouwerethinkingtheywastedaonlyfewhundreddollars,try
hundredsofthousandsofdollars!Oklahomawastedanestimated$385,872bydrugtestingits
publicassistanceapplicants!Thatsonly$100,000shyofhalfamilliondollars!Somehigher
payingjobswillpayexecutivesthatmuchinanentireyear!Wouldyoulikeyourentireyears
paytogodownthedrain?Ifthatwasntasurprise,howaboutthefactthatOklahomaisstill
doingthesedrugtests!Anotherstatethatwastingobsceneamountsoftaxpayersdollarsondrug
testswasMissouri.Missourispentanestimated$336,297onitsdrugtests
(CovertandIsrael)
!
Thatsalotofmoneythatcouldbeusedmorewisely,anddrugtestingpublicassistance
applicantsisnotwise.Withsomuchmoneywasted,onewouldwonderwhatterriblelongterm
effectsaregoingtocomeoutofthis.Butwhateveritis,itsnotgoingtomakeanytaxpayers
happy.Anotherfactorthatmakesthesedrugtestssuchawasteisbecausemostpeopleonpublic
assistancearetaxpayers.In2010,halfofthepeopleonpublicassistancehadatleastaparttime
job
(Cunha)
.Thismeanstheyweredirectlycontributingtothesystemthattheywerereceiving
moneyfrom.So,ifthepeopleonpublicassistancehavetogiveupsomeoftheirpaytothe

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government,dothey,andalltheothertaxpayerswantthatmoneygoingtocreateevenmore
wastedmoney?Iwouldhopenot.
Although,manypeopledonotsupportmandatorydrugtesting,somepeoplesaythatdrug
testingpublicassistanceapplicantshelpsprovethattaxpayermoneyisgoingtoagoodcause.
Certainly,mostpeopledonotwanttheirtaxmoneyfuelingsomeonesdrugaddiction.The
peoplewhoarefordrugtestingsayapplicantsforpublicassistanceusethemoneytobuydrugs.
Ifthegovernmenthandsoutmoneywithoutcheckingiftherecipientsusedrugs,whatstostop
themfrombuyingdrugswiththatmoney?Well,theanswerisquitesimple,thelaw.SNAP
(SupplementalNutritionAssistanceProgram),aformofpublicassistance,doesnotallowpeople
tousethemoneygiventothemtobuydrugs,alcohol,cigarettesortobacco.Mostpublic
assistanceagenciesare,attheveryleast,tryingtokeepthemoneytheygivetopeopleusedfor
itsintendedpurpose.Becausemostpeoplewouldlikethemoneytheygivetothegovernmentto
gotoagoodcause,somesupportersofdrugtestingsaythatyoucansavemoneybytesting
publicassistanceapplicants.Otherssaythatdrugtestingapplicantsforpublicassistancecan
evensavemoney
(Greenblatt)
.However,thatwouldonlybetrueifeveryonewhowasonpublic
assistanceactuallyuseddrugs.Bybarringpeoplewhousedrugsfromgettingbenefits,the
governmentdoessavemoneybynotgivingthemanybenefits.But,anymoneytheysavebynot
givingittooneperson,isusedupbydrugtestingalloftheapplicantswhopassthetest.So,itis
truethatyousavemoneyinonearea,butwhenthebillfromthedrugtestcompanycomesin,all
thatprofitgoesiswatergoingstraightdownthedrain.
Inconclusion,Ibelievethatweshouldnotdrugtestapplicantsforpublicassistance.Itis
awasteoftaxpayersmoney,theresultsaretoosmallforanyproductiveactiontobetakenand

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thesetestsarediscriminatingagainstourmostvulnerablecitizens.Thisissueisextremely
importantbecauseweareputtingthiswonderfulcountryfurtherintoitsoverwhelming18.152
trilliondollarsofdebt.So,nexttimesomeonesuggestsmandatorydrugtestingforpublic
assistanceapplicants,youknowthetruth.

WorksCited
Covert,Bryce,andJoshIsrael."What7StatesDiscoveredAfterSpendingMoreThan$1Million
DrugTestingWelfareRecipients."
ThinkProgressRSS
.ThinkProgressRSS,26Feb.2015.
Web.09Mar.2015.
Cunha,Darlena."WhyDrugTestingWelfareRecipientsIsaWasteofTaxpayerMoney."
Time
.
Time,15Aug.2014.Web.09Mar.2015.
"DrugTestingWelfareRecipients."
AmericanCivilLibertiesUnion
.AmericanCivilLiberties
Union,n.d.Web.10Mar.2015.
Greenblatt,Alan."ShouldWelfareRecipientsGetDrugTesting?"
NPR
.NPR,31Mar.2010.
Web.09Mar.2015.