Stephanie Foreman
Instructor Clayn Lambert
English 1102
November 9, 2011
Drug Testing Should Be Required to Become Eligible for Food Stamps
Half of American children will live in households receiving food stamps before age 20, according to a study reported in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (998). With that statistic in mind how are we as a country holding the parents who receive the food stamp assistance for their families accountable for being drug free?
When I was a child growing up I was lucky enough to live in a family that was able to be self-sufficient and did not have to use the aid of the government food stamp program. As a matter of fact I did not even know that there was a program that helped families that didn’t have enough money for food for their families. In my mid-twenties I became a single mother and worked a full time job. I struggled to make ends meet, to pay for day care, diapers, and all the other bills. It wasn’t until I was told by some friends of mine that there was a program for low income families to help them pay for food. I never looked into it because I worked a full time job and the offices were closed when I was off work. I did however learn that my friends were able to buy the food stamps from the individuals that were on the program for half the price they were worth. That meant that they could buy $100 worth of food stamps for $50. So they were able to buy $100 worth of food for ½ the price. That was the 1st time I had heard of this and I didn’t understand at that time where the food stamps came from and why individuals would sell them. Today many years later and several drug abusing neighbors since then, I can say I have seen it first hand, those individuals that receive food stamps and are selling them to buy drugs. That is why I believe it should be mandatory to pass a drug test before being approved for food stamps and submit random drug tests while receiving those services.
As taxpayers we have agreed to give needed money to help those who do not have enough money to feed their families assistance, by way of food stamps, supporting those families until they can get back on their feet. Being a taxpayer myself I don’t want that money to go to anything else but what it is intended for. A Republican state representative in Missouri, Ellen Brandom was quoted in the New York Times stating, “Working people today work very hard to make ends meet, and it just doesn’t seem fair to them that their tax dollars go to support illegal things,” (States Adding Drug Test as Hurdle for Welfare). Taxpayers are giving their taxes to people that are struggling to assist them during hard times. The hope is that they will lift themselves up, get a job and be able to get to a place where they do not need public assistance. When someone abuses that right and takes that money and assistance and uses their time to get high and drunk instead of trying to make their lives better, then drug testing is necessary.
On the State of Idaho Government website it states that the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (a.k.a. the Food Stamp Program) helps low-income families supplement their food needs by providing limited funds in order to buy foods necessary for staying healthy. In order to receive food assistance from the State of Idaho, you must complete the application process and meet certain eligibility requirements such as:
· You must be a citizen or legal immigrant.
· You must be a resident of the State of Idaho.
· Your household income must be less than the program income limits for your household size.
· With some exceptions, you must work or participate in an employment and training program”.
Idaho does not require individuals to submit any form of drug tests. However, in a report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University it shows in Idaho’s summary of state spending on substance abuse and addiction in 2005 that for every dollar that Idaho spends on substance abuse 68 cents of that shoulders the burden of public programs such as food stamps (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse). “In 2005, the federal government spent $235.4 billion on programs related to child and family assistance. Of this amount, 15.6 percent or $36.7 billion is directly linked to substance abuse and addiction, including child welfare, food and nutritional assistance, income assistance, housing/homeless assistance, child and family assistance and employment” (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse).
If drug testing before being approved for food stamps was implemented this could be a gateway for help to deliver other services to those that are in need to help with those obstacles that are keeping them from becoming self-sufficient and getting a job. I would like to quote a story I read on the internet by David Snell he said “I have grown up in a drug addicted welfare supported home from 7-9 years of age I learned what it is like. While my mother slipped into a meth habit she had no job with 4 kids to feed. Welfare gave her 1,500 a month in food stamp and received around $700 in child support a month. Trading food stamps for drugs and slowly spiraling downward our life was poor. Because all the money was spent on drugs I began drinking Kool-Aid or water only, eating junk food that I made while my mother could hardly focus on one thing for a second. Eventually we had no electricity and my mom and her boyfriend chopped up my bunk bed my father had built for me and my brother. They burned it to keep warm and used candles and lanterns for light. One day my mother spilled lantern oil while filling the tank and it became ignited by a candle she was using for light. The trailer we lived in for years burned to the ground and we lost everything we had except the clothes on our backs. That was rock bottom and I know if drug tests were mandatory for welfare, she might have reach bottom sooner and turned her life around. (In tough times, save by giving up bad habits)”
Drug abuse can keep people from becoming self-sufficient. Drug use and abuse will close doors to job opportunities that drug abusers would be eligible for if they could pass a drug test. Numerous occupations require drug testing before getting hired and also during employment. In an interview with a Heinz employee, I was told that if an individual was interested in working for Heinz they need to go through SOS Temporary Staffing Agency, fill out the application and then submit a drug test in order to be eligible for employment at Heinz. After they are hired, random drug testing is enforced, in order to keep their job. If drug testing were mandatory while an individual was unemployed and receiving food stamps, then they could receive services to help stop the drug abuse and get a job. Florida has passed a law requiring mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients. People who favor this say that testing will help those who need drug treatment get it and therefore be better qualified to obtain and keep jobs. “Having food stamp recipients submit to drug testing would help to identify high-risk individuals of the welfare population that are in need of alcohol and drug prevention, intervention, and/or treatment programs. Education programs, counseling and other forms of treatment of alcohol and drug problems could be added into the welfare system. If there were prevention programs and treatment services for alcohol and drug problems among welfare recipients that would help to those individuals reach the goals of work, responsibility, and reduction of dependency on the food stamp program. The implementation of prevention programs and treatment services for alcohol and drug problems among welfare 
recipients would foster and facilitate the major goals of work, responsibility, and reduction of dependency “ (Dawson).
recipients would foster and facilitate the major goals of work, responsibility, and reduction of dependency “ (Dawson). 
The study by the National Drug Use and Health, states that illicit drug use was higher for unemployed persons (17.0 percent) than for those who were employed full time (8.0 percent) or part time (11.5 percent) (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).If drug use is higher for those who are unemployed and those who are unemployed are those that are in need of food stamps then as a country we should not ignore that fact. How can we help those individuals using drugs and reduce the amount of American tax dollars paying to sustain those who are not helping themselves become self-sufficient. Timely and comprehensive treatment can work for substance-abusing parents, and such treatment is cost effective.
Just why is "drug-free" a meaningful requirement to us? Children need to be raised in a loving family that is focused on teaching them how to become self-sufficient adults. When a parent is using drugs the effects can be damaging to the children. We want children to have a better chance at a good life that does not include drugs. I think that drug testing puts these parents in a position to be more inclined to seek help and get off drugs so they can keep the assistance they are receiving or to be eligible to receive it. It is amazing that more than 8 million children in this country live with substance-abusing parents (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). If a drug test was given to each individual that applies for or receives food stamps were given that would give the parent that tested positive for drugs the opportunity to enter a treatment program and become self –sufficient. Every child has a right to be free of drug and alcohol-abusing parents who are abusing or neglecting their children and who refuse to enter treatment or despite treatment are unable to conquer their abuse and addiction. (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University). If a parent was unable to overcome their addictions food stamp payments could still continue but would go to another person, live a grandparent. “The equation is simple: When you stabilize the parents, you stabilize the children”, says Kirsten Lodal, chief executive and co-founder of LIFT, a national nonprofit that assists low-income families with employment, housing and public benefits. Substance abuse and addiction severely compromise or destroy the ability of parents to provide a safe and nurturing home for a child.
Figure 1 Steve Hebert for The New York Times
With the electricity shut off, Nariah, 3, ate a fruit cup for dinner last week in Kansas City, Mo. Her mother, Nicole, 22, may soon have to pass a drug test to maintain state aid to her family.
Published: October 10, 2011
In general, family income below $9,000, lack of health insurance, and having a family member in the same household receiving welfare were associated with the highest past year prevalence of any illicit drug use and past year marijuana use. Lack of health insurance and receipt of welfare assistance also were associated with past year cocaine use, especially among adults (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).
The nation's inability to protect children whose parents are substance abusers springs from the lack of practice guidelines to achieve federal and state policy objectives; and the lack of federal and state support for prevention, substance abuse treatment, training, research and evaluation. (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University)
Federal and state governments spend more than 60 times as much to clean up the devastation substance abuse and addiction visits on children as they do on prevention and treatment for them (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse). Part of the way that the government can help to prevent and treat drug abuse would be to drug test for food stamps. It is a good way it get the help and treatment that is needed to the people that may have a problem with drugs. If they get the treatment that they need they can continue receiving the benefits from the government. If they refuse the treatment then they can have another family member receive the food stamps for the children. The goal of this proposition would be to help families become self-sufficient by helping them get off drugs so they are able to get a job. Because it is so important to use the government funds to help those that are in a situation where they need help temporarily, it is important to help those stay drug-free.
Works Cited
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. "Estimating the Risk of Food Stamp Use and Impoverishment During Childhood." Archives of Pedicatric & Adolescent Medicine 163.11 (2009): 998.
Bowers, Becky. "Florida is not the first state to require drug testing of welfare applicants." St. Petersburg Times 10 October 2011.
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. Shoveling Up II: The Impact of Substance Abuse on Federal, State and Local Budgets. New York: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2009.
Dawson, B.F., Grand D.A. "Alcohol and Drug Use, Abuse, and Dependence Amoung Welfare Recipients." American Journal of Public Health 86 (1996): 1450-1454.
Jayakody, Rukmalie, Seldon Danziger and Harold Pollack. "Welfare Reform, Substance Abuse, and Mental Health." American Journal of Public Health (1996): 1450-1454.
Musgrave, Beth. "Latest Local, State News." 18 February 2011. Kentucky.com. 26 October 2011 <http://www.kentucky.com/2011/02/18/1639446/proposal-to-drug-test-recipients.html#ixzz1cgOsW4JH>.
Olson, K. and L. Pavetti. Personal and Family Challenges to the Successful Transition from Welfare to Work. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.
Robert E. Crew, Jr., PhD and Belinda Creel Davis, PhD. "Assessing the Effects of Substance Abuse Among Applicants for TANF Benefits: The Outcome of a Demonstration Project in Florida." Journal of Health & Social Policy (2003): 39-53.
Snell, David L. "In tough times, save by giving up bad habits." USA Today n.d. 15 September 2011: 08a.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "1997 National Survey on Drug Abuse." 1997. SAMHSA. <http://www.samhsa.gov/data/nhsda/1997main/nhsda1997mfWeb-119.htm#Table13.1>.
—. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Findings. Rockville: Office of Applied Sutdies, NSDUH Series, 2009.
Sulzberger, A. G. "States Adding Drug Test as Hurdle for Welfare." The New York Times 11 October 2011: A1.
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. No Safe Haven: Children of Substance-Abusing Parents. New York: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 1999.
"The New York Times." Food Stamps and the Tough Economy 5 December 2009: WK9.
Tietenberg, Tom and Henk, Editors Folmer. The International Yearbook of Environmental Resource Economics, 2006/2007. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishers, 2006.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Blending Perspectives and Building Common Ground. A Report to Congress on Substance Abuse and Child Protection. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1999.
Nice essay, you illustrate how drug abusers use federal aid to cover their dirty habits. I agree it would disable a lot of people the aid they need to feed their families, but if they are using it on drugs then they have no right to it anyways. If they are going to use drugs, they should only get them if they have spare cash around, and should keep federally funded money going to it designated purpose. If I were you though, I would explain the importance of your figures and graphics a little more, it tells you what it is about, but what is your summary and what does the figure mean to you? Try and appeal more to the emotional side, don't be afraid to tell how you feel about testimonials you use, just keep it the language G rated ha.
ReplyDeleteGood opening story of why and where you learned of ‘food stamps’ it drew me into your paper. I would consider receiving assistance a privilege; not a right. For the blog I would remove the pictures. I also do not know how to add this as an attachment. I’m not sure what format you are using to cite your sources. I wish we all had to use APA then we could learn one this semester. If using APA, I use the web page http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/ for assistance. You do have statistics of people on welfare and drugs. What about who will be doing the testing, who will cover the cost and compare it to people with a job contributing to society. Do you have research on ways the government has tried to combat the fraud you talked of? Your summary needed some signposting; I thought you were repeating yourself at first. Hopefully this has been helpful.
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