Testing for Welfare?

I just read this story: http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110926/BREAKINGNEWS/309260004/Judge-hear-arguments-about-drug-testing-Welfare-recipients?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home

I am one that has mixed feelings about this. This article says that testing welfare applicants is a violation of constitutional rights, however, I don't think that I am prepared to go quite that far. No one is telling them that they HAVE to apply for welfare, but if they do, they must be tested. The article states that 2.7% of about 2000 applicants have been denied benefits for a positive test-roughly 54 people. This isn't keeping the masses from getting benefits that they need.

But, what happens to those who are denied? Are their kids going hungry because they can't get benefits? I have heard some people say that the state should then take the kids. Putting kids in foster care costs an immense amount of money-isn't the purpose of testing to save money? We defeat the purpose of the drug testing requirement if we then overload the foster system.

Another issue that is the elephant in the room, but I will go there...can we all agree that there is a difference between someone who borrows a pain pill from a friend, or someone who has a small amount of THC in their blood in comparison to a raging meth head? Does someone who tests positive due to borrowing a pain pill deserve to be cast aside as a common druggie? In this situation it seems as if this policy does more harm than good. If someone ingested a small amount of THC three weeks prior does that make them deserving of losing everything? Usually by the time someone applies for welfare, it is their last chance.

It will be interesting to see if we see cases of crimes committed after denial of welfare benefits. In my opinion, the new program will simply keep people who know they will test positive from applying in the first place. If no work can be found, it may be easier to simply commit a crime then apply for meager welfare benefits. As a taxpayer I don't want to support someone else's drug habit either, but their drug habit is already out in society if we like it or not. As a community we are going to pay one way or another. I just don't know if this is the right way to do it.