Pennsylvania: Don't Require Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients

The Pennsylvania legislature is starting to roll out a program that would require welfare recipients to pass a drug test before receiving help from the state. Their hope is that this will cut costs in the Department of Public Welfare. As a Pennsylvania resident, I am appalled that my state leaders would stomp on the rights of thousands of people in such a misguided and immoral attempt to save money.

Studies have found that requiring drug tests for welfare recipients wastes more money than it spends. Each test costs between $35 and $75. According to The Center for Law and Social Policy, so few substance abusers are actually found that catching and disqualifying one single drug abuser from welfare benefits would cost taxpayers between $20,000 and $77,000. That is definitely not how I want my tax dollars spent.

Plus, the tests are not a good way to identify people who use the most dangerous drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine, since these drugs leave the body's system within hours or days. Instead, the drug tests are most likely to identify people who have used marijuana at least once in the last month. It just isn't right that someone who is trying to get back on their feet following a drug conviction should be denied welfare benefits because they used a drug that has been partially decriminalized in some Pennsylvania cities.

Beyond the moral implications of testing welfare recipients for drugs, there are some serious legal questions that arise. The Pennsylvania drug testing program may not be as far-reaching as those attempted in other states, but it would still test anyone with a drug felony conviction within the last five years and anyone on probation for a drug offense. So it would still invade the privacy of thousands of people, thus violating the the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches. When Michigan tried to impose mandatory drug tests on welfare recipients, the policy was struck down as unconstitutional.

Pennsylvania's new drug testing program is fiscally impractical, morally wrong, and legally questionable. Please sign this petition to demand that the Pennsylvania legislature cancel their plans to roll out mandatory drug tests for welfare recipients.