I agree that if you take government assistance you should be subjected to random drug screenings. Do I believe all welfare recipients to be on drugs no but there are quite a few that abuse the system and illegal substances.

I'm a disabled vet and the VA orders random drug testing (I assume since I am on pain meds forever). It doesn't matter if it is right, wrong, disrespectful of my service, or Constitutional rights in any way. They are checking me for ILLEGAL drugs and I have plenty of blood or urine on tap. If we are expected to comply, why not everyone else? Why are we scrambling to make everything ok for everybody and avoiding a very simple issue. If you want to have something (money/food stamps, housing, etc) for free, there needs to be better regulation. I also think these "businesses" that get caught buying food stamps for pennies on the dollar should be sterilized, but I digress.

I agree with the drug testing issue for recipients of government assistance. We test our military and many federal civil servants ... folks who work for the country. I think it's perfectly reasonable to drug test folks who get something for nothing.

But, is it cost effective to do this? Maybe. I guess the money that would go to folks who fail the test and don't get the benefits could be used to pay for the drug testing.

I've been working in and for the military for almost 40 years and I've been drug tested for the entire time (randomly, etc., but still), so I'm a proponent.