I can see benefits to drug testing of welfare recipients, but, there are incredible problems in doing it as well.
The most dangerous is the legal precedent it sets.
The problem is that a person could have legitimate need for a drug that would show up on a screening. You go in to the dentist and have a tooth extracted, the next day you have a little note to report for a pee sample. The dentist gave you Darvocet or Vicodin as a pain killer for your extraction. Bang! You could jeopardize your benefits for dental work and trying to not be in pain?
The next thing is that if one is allowed to discriminate based on a drug screening we have stated that discrimination is OK.
If we can do that we can demand an HIV test and say that nobody who is HIV sero-positive qualifies for aid.
The same thinking, can, if we stretch it far enough be applied to race, religious affiliation, and sexual orientation.
It is not likely, but it is possible that under court appeals that we could in essence institutionalize and make other forms of discrimination legal as well.
The likelihood is in the eyes of the law not the point, it could happen and we are all aware of some real extremist individuals who would try and expand discrimination.
There are also incredible opportunities for abuse. Many who receive welfare are not on welfare because of lack of work, they are on welfare or aid programs simply because of health.
The next thing is that it opens up violations of privacy in many areas and this is also something that Corporate America has pushed for.
In the 1960's and 1970's civil rights and racism were the biggest issues. In the new century and with the proliferation of computer databases your individual rights to privacy and who can get information about your personal life and medical records will probably become the biggest issue people face.
As much as I like the idea of not seeing money provided by taxpayers supporting drug dealers, the possible negative aspects of this kind of thing has such far reaching implications that I have to say that the welfare recipient gets their money and we leave it at that.