Originally Posted by pektel

That is the BEST idea I've heard in a long time. I'm going to propose this to my local, county, and state government representatives.

Originally Posted by MAC1

How about asking your state representatives if they would be willing to submit to a pee test.

I agree with the idea, however, I would imagine that a substantial percentage of public assistance applicants living in inner cities would be turned away due to illegal substance use. Even though public assistance is not a right you could be certain that enacting a law mandating a pee test would be challenged on constitutional grounds, particularly as a violation of the 14th Amendment and/or state constitution. Such a law would be deemed unconscionable because despite illegal substance use children of users still need food, shelter and clothing bought for with public assistance. So it's a catch-22 because while we want to weed out those who abuse public assistance we don't want starving and/or abused children. So, with such legislation there would have to be some way to deal with the consequences of denying public assistance in general, but particularly to those with children. Moreover, another problem is that denying public assistance would likely lead to an upswing in crime and other associated problems. So, it sounds good on the surface but in retrospect it would not be a good idea unless there is also a way to deal with the consequences.