Drug Use Among Welfare Recipients in the United States, Research Paper Example

It is necessary for the government to promote the welfare of its citizens while determining how to defend their rights. Often, it is challenging to create a balance between these two needs. To cope with the pitfalls of systemic poverty and lack of employment, welfare recipients often turn to substance abuse for transient relief, which adversely impacts their capacity to socialize, their health and well-being, and their ability to perform well in the workplace. In turn, members of society are required to compensate for these deficiencies by contributing taxes to the government that will contribute to programs ranging from substance abuse therapy to incarceration. Republicans in Congress continue to draft bills that give states the power to mandate and administer drug tests for welfare recipients. Individuals who test positive for any illicit substance would be forced to enter a drug rehabilitation program and abstain from the consumption of illicit substance or risk losing their welfare benefits. It is important to evaluate the positive and negative aspects of this legislation to determine how the American people will benefit from either option. Specifically, this analysis will determine whether it is financially reasonable to implement drug testing programs, whether drug testing for welfare is benefitting or harming welfare recipients and taxpayers, and suggest additional interventions that could reasonably be used to solve the drug testing question. A literature review will be conducted to determine the current understanding of this problem within the context of current and previous studies of this social issue.

The authors of several studies claim that the incidence of drug use is higher among populations of individuals that receive welfare.  In particular, Delva et al. (2000) conducted a comprehensive study that utilized information from 1989 welfare recipients and 6840 non-recipients to determine the comparative incidence of drug use among members of these     populations.  It was found that drug use is 50% more common in households are welfare recipients compared to those that receive welfare. An additional study conducted by Grant et al. (1992) provided an epidemiological understanding of the incidence of alcohol and drug use among individuals that receive governmental aid in the form of welfare.  To do so,        information from the 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey was analyzed. It was found that individuals that abuse drugs and alcohol that are also welfare    recipients use these substances in the same proportional amount as individuals that do not receive welfare.  Therefore, the amount of individuals that abuse substances and are also     recipients of welfare is negligible. Both of these studies demonstrate that portions of the welfare population utilize alcohol and drugs, but this may be to the same extent that members of the general population use these substances.

Other professionals have conducted research to explore the question as to whether conducting drug testing on recipients of welfare serves as an effective practice. According to Douglas et al. (2003), prior to 2003, there had been a law designed to require drug testing for federal welfare recipients in Michigan. However, the federal court developed a case to repeal these measures based on questions concerning the constitutionality of this legislation. The authors discuss that according to the American Civil Liberties Union, drug testing is an invasion of privacy and a form of discrimination.  On this basis, they claim that drug testing  for welfare recipients should be removed from practice. Furthermore, the authors claim that continuation of these measures would violate privacy rights of citizens.  It is, therefore, essential to understanding that the federal government has the power to regulate this form of welfare regulation and that states are responsible for implementing the distribution of the welfare funds.

While the welfare question is currently being debated in the United States, it is also important to consider that other nations in North America are faced with this question as well. In particular, some provinces in Canada are considering implementing mandatory drug testing for recipients of welfare (Macdonald et al., 2001).  These individuals would be required to agree to drug testing to receive welfare in addition to agreeing to undergo drug treatment if it is found that they are drug users. Professionals from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) advise against this type of legislation because they are worried that it will counteract the rights of Canadian citizens and prove to be a costly effort.  Also, this organization reports that drug testing cannot accurately determine long-term drug use or dependence, indicating that the test is not highly sensitive to achieve these particular measurements. Opponents of drug testing legislation also argue that harm could befall the welfare recipients that are required to obtain treatment for their drug addiction and/or use, and that this law could trigger increased crime.

An interesting claim from individuals that oppose the use of drug testing for welfare recipients is that the drug tests used are not sensitive enough and therefore may under report the use of drugs among these individuals (Pollack et al., 2002).  The authors report that approximately 20% of welfare recipients use some kind of illegal substance. However, a smaller amount of individuals than this are detected using the conventional drug tests used for this form of screening.  Therefore, the authors postulate that it is unreasonable to implement drug testing for individuals on welfare because a small amount of individuals will be discontinued for this purpose.  As a consequence, it may not be financially feasible to allow drug screening programs.

Yet, other individuals interested in the constitutionality of drug testing welfare  recipients claim that different legislation promotes the legality of this action to different extents. These authors claim that while many individuals argue that drug testing welfare recipients are illegal according the protections under the Fourth Amendment offers, there is a lot of case law on both the state and federal level that appears to contradict this understanding (Wurman, 2013). Specifically, the Special Needs Doctrine put forth by the Supreme Court further define the Fourth Amendment as it relates to welfare protection, indicating that drug testing welfare recipients may be legal.  Overall, it necessary to reconsider that drug testing of welfare recipients appears to be constitutional under certain legal clauses, but not others.

There are many problems that members of the public are worried about pertaining to the expense of welfare programs.  Specifically, those who support the drug testing program believe that it will give individuals on welfare a higher incentive to return to work.  In “Welfare Reform, Substance Use, and Mental Health”, the authors discuss the problems that occur when welfare recipients are expected to make their transition to work (Jayakody et al., 2000). There is a great concern over determining who is employable and who isn’t.  An analysis of the 1994 and 1995 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA) was conducted and it was found that 19% of welfare recipients have some form of mental illness (Jayakody et al., 2000). Furthermore, a similar number of these individuals were found to use illicit substances or alcohol. The authors propose that there may be a connection between these two variables.  In addition, detection of drug use may provide welfare recipients with necessary medical support.

Finally, some individuals that oppose the use of drug testing for individuals on welfare propose that it is more ideal to create programs that will help recipients of welfare avoid drug use instead of taking away their funding altogether (Delva et al., 2000). The authors believe that it is also important to focus on negative consequences that may arise as a consequence of the implementation of such programs.  Overall, the authors argue that it is important to determine how to best use funding to help these individuals. Since drug testing is an expensive process, they claim that it may be more beneficial to use these funds to support the mental health of individuals within this population that turn to drug use. In addition, it is necessary to determine whether this program is deterring the use of drugs or saving the government money.  Thus, it is important to carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of the drug testing program to determine whether it should continue to be implemented or be abated altogether.

In conclusion, it appears that requiring drug testing for welfare results in a high expense without a significant level of drug detection. Because the individuals that tend to use drugs among the welfare population are proportional to those that use drugs in the general population, it is unreasonable to consider the incidence of drug use as higher among these populations. This study revealed that this is much that is left to be understood about the relationship between welfare and drug testing. Much is known about policies that exist to address welfare scandal and the efficient use of taxpayer funds, it is necessary to determine which policies are the most effective and how existing legislation could be modified to confer an enhanced benefit. For example, providing these individuals with psychological testing and counseling may be efficient ways to help them decrease their dependence on drugs. Since there is a link between poverty and mental illness, it is important to consider that many individuals on welfare are not receiving the treatment that they need in order to survive. In order to cope with these problems, they turn to drug use. Therefore, the welfare problem is not that individuals are receiving too much money for not working. The problem is that they are under supported and are therefore unable to use their government provided funds effectively. Instead of criticizing this population for the use of public money, it is important to better understand the problems they are facing and conduct the necessary research to determine how this social issue could be better addressed. Recruiting the help of social workers and other professionals would be beneficial to help rectify this pressing societal issue and positively contribute to the lifestyles of many individuals in the process.

References

Delva, J., Neumarkb, J.D., Furrc, C.D.M., Anthonyc, J.C. (2000). Drug use among welfare recipients in the United States. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 26(2).

Douglas, C. A., McCauley, M., Ostrow, M., & Wimbrow, M. (2003). United States: Federal court repeals welfare drug-test program. Off Our Backs, 33(5/6), 7-8.

Jayakody R, Danziger S, Pollack H. (2000). Welfare reform, substance use, and mental health. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law August, (4): 623-652.

Macdonald, S., Bois, C., Brands, B., Dempsey, D., Erickson, P., Marsh, D., Meredith, S., Shain, M., Skinner, W., Chiu, A. (2001). Drug testing and mandatory treatment for welfare recipients. Drug Policy, 12(3): 249-257.

Pollack, H. A., Danziger, S., Seefeldt, K. S., & Jayakody, R. (2002). Substance use among welfare recipients: Trends and policy responses. Social Service Review, 76(2), 256-274.

Wurman, I. (2013). Drug testing welfare recipients as a constitutional condition. Stanford Law Review, 65, 1153-1193.