Is It Charitable To Finance Someone’s Drug Addiction?

Many years ago, I knew a Pastor who had a wonderful way of dealing with people who approached him on the street and asked him for money. He would take them to breakfast, lunch or dinner (whichever was appropriate for the time of day). He knew that in many cases, if you give someone who begs you for money cash, it will be spent on drugs and alcohol, and you are not helping that person. Some states are beginning to realize that their welfare programs are supporting drug addiction and are attempting to do something about it. North Carolina is one of those states. Before I write this article, I would like to remind the reader that most job applications today include a drug test. If I have to pass a drug test to get a job to earn money, shouldn’t you have to pass a drug test to collect money?

Breitbart.com posted an article yesterday about North Carolina’s drug testing program. The state began doing drug tests late last year. So far, almost 25 percent of those tested, tested positive for drug use.

The article reports:

State officials report that of the 89 applicants given the drug test, 21 of them tested positive. An additional 70 applicants who were told to take the test never showed up for their appointment and consequently never got benefits.

I wonder what the percentage of the 70 that never showed up would have been.

The article further reports:

Also, despite the positive results, in half the cases benefits were still paid to the applicants because children were involved.

Does anyone actually believe that the benefits paid were spent on the children involved and not drugs?

We are not doing anyone any favors by giving people with drug addiction problems money. What kind of an example are we funding for the children growing up in a house with an active drug addict? We need to put the people who test positive into compulsory treatment programs and take their children away until they are clean.

For those who argue that drug testing is too expensive and will not yield positive results, please tell me what positive results come from giving an addicted parent money to buy drugs (even if you say the money is for the children, that is not where it will be spent). The most charitable thing you can do for a drug addict collecting welfare is to hold them accountable and help them kick their drug habit. Paying them to continue in their addiction is cruel to them and very damaging to the next generation.