April 21, 2013
Topeka — By next year, applicants for welfare and unemployment benefits who are suspected of taking illegal drugs will be tested, and if they fail the test they will lose their benefits.
Some groups see this as mean-spirited hassling of the poor, but Gov. Sam Brownback and supporters of the new law say it will help break the cycle of poverty because those who fail will be required to take substance abuse and jobs training.
But Holly Weatherford, program director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, said the measure was unfair. "We shouldn't require poor people to surrender their privacy so they can obtain enough money for the basic necessities of life," Weatherford said. The proliferation of such bills across the nation is prompted by the false assumption that people receiving benefits are rampant users of illegal drugs, she said.
Weatherford said the ACLU will be watching closely as Kansas implements rules and regulations and starts to administer the new law.
Link to Lawrence Journal World article
Some groups see this as mean-spirited hassling of the poor, but Gov. Sam Brownback and supporters of the new law say it will help break the cycle of poverty because those who fail will be required to take substance abuse and jobs training.
But Holly Weatherford, program director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, said the measure was unfair. "We shouldn't require poor people to surrender their privacy so they can obtain enough money for the basic necessities of life," Weatherford said. The proliferation of such bills across the nation is prompted by the false assumption that people receiving benefits are rampant users of illegal drugs, she said.
Weatherford said the ACLU will be watching closely as Kansas implements rules and regulations and starts to administer the new law.
Link to Lawrence Journal World article