On December 3, 2014, a federal appeals court ruled that Florida’s law requiring individuals applying for welfare benefits have to take mandatory drug tests. The court said the practice was unconstitutional.

The judge said that just because a person is impoverished and seeking help through welfare, they cannot be stripped of their expectations of privacy.

The lawsuit challenging the Florida law was brought in 2011 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on behalf of Luis Lebron, a U.S. Navy veteran with sole custody of his 5-year-old son. He was denied benefits after refusing a drug test.

The law originally required people applying for benefits to pay $25 to $50 for a urine drug test. If the test came back negative their money was refunded to them. If the drug test comes back positive, Florida will bar the applicant from re-applying for welfare for a year  In Florida, approximately 1 in 40 tests came back positive.

This is not just a policy that was being enforced in Florida. Several other states have similar policies.

I am on the fence with this policy. No, I don’t believe that poor people should be singled out or have their rights to privacy invaded just because they need help making ends meet. However, I don’t really see anything wrong with having to take a drug test to receive state or federal benefits. It seems logical to me that if you need assistance with food and housing, you shouldn’t have money to spare to buy illegal narcotics. But hey, that is just my opinion. What do I know?!

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