Indiana moving towards drug tests for welfare recipients

Think Progress - Indiana’s House of Representatives  approved a bill that would require all welfare recipients to undergo drug testing, despite the fact that several courts have ruled such measures are unconstitutional. Public assistance would be denied to any applicant who refused to undergo rehabilitation treatment.

The bill would require recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Familieswho tests positive for illegal substances to pay for their own drug tests out of their assistance checks. It would also force anyone with drugs in their system to enroll in a treatment program, but the bill offers no additional funding for such programs.

In 2011, Indiana approved a similar requirement for people to apply for unemployment insurance, and just one percent of applicants failed. Similar numbers have come from Republican-led drug testing efforts in Florida.