Would it hurt to drug test unemployment benefit recipients?

Drug test for all law enforcment and politicians.

Aim at those who go for the free ride. Welfare. Not those who have simply lost their job and have rightfully applied for the insurance that they paid into while they were working. I had to pass a "test" for my paycheck for the honor of donating tax dollars to those who want the free ride. They should have to pass the same test to recieve it. Leave the working and those trying to find work alone.....

Well, here's a novel idea: LEGALIZE DRUGS! I don't just mean marijuana, but all drugs. First of all, that would stop this unbelievably ridiculous legislation, even the need for it.

Legalizing drugs benefits:

1. Money, in the form of taxation and profit, is put into the hands of the government and the legal distributor, to be put back into the economy LEGALLY. At the moment, multiple billions of dollars a year goes to the funding of rebel armies, drug czars, 'terrorists', slave drivers and all manner of people that do not benefit society.

2. Countries with legalized drugs have less inhabitants that use them. This is an unarguable fact, look up statistics for drug use in the US vs the Netherlands.

3. Countless more billions of OUR money is spent on fighting the ridiculous and pointless 'war on drugs'. The time of police officers is wasted arresting otherwise law-abiding citizens and making room for them in prison that would be better used to house violent offenders. It is also spent on warring with drug lords in other countries, who fund their resistance through...you guessed it...the sale of drugs.

I think my point is sufficiently made, and if anyone doubts me, do yourself a favour and actually look up the facts instead of just assuming you get all of the facts from the nightly news.

Obviously for drugs to be legalized, a plan of educating the people properly (instead of misinforming them) about the pros and cons of drugs will need to be instituted. Just saying 'drugs are bad, don't do them', makes a curious person ask 'why?', and makes them more likely to try them.

The fact is, drugs exist, and as long as they do, people will use them, no matter how high the potential penalties. People need to take action, and take responsibility, and take back their civil liberties! This is a good place to start! We don't need the government to tell us what we can and can not do to our own bodies.

Oh yeah, we're talking about North America here. Civil liberties? Declining steadily...

I think this would be an invasion to ones personal body, why not just say hey we have a new vaccine and all welfare recipients MUST TAKE IT. you know what i mean? it's just not morally responsible.

I also think its wrong to do it to EI recipients because its those people that are HARD WORKING people.

On the surface the idea makes sense, but there are lots of other issues to consider. To begin with, both Canadian and US governments have agreed that marijuana can be considered medication, but both countries have systems in place that make it nearly impossible to get medical marijuana approval. People should not be punished further for their governments not working to protect them and give them the medication they need. And as for drugs in general, a lot of people taking drugs have serious mental health issues. How are you going to help them? The result of putting drug testing in place will simply result in more people on the streets who get in a cycle they can't get out of which will lead to crime and eventually them in jail. Of course here in Canada that is what Harper wants, everyone in jail.

To the person who said "put cameras in your houses," if you really want to, sure, go ahead. I'm not sure you want to watch me doing my personal business in the bathroom, but I have nothing to hide. So, go ahead.
I believe the point here really is, why would you be wasting your money on pot, or alcohol or cigarettes for that matter, if you're on EI, or welfare, for that matter? So, you shouldn't mind being tested. You quite possibly aren't making alot of money at that point in time, are you? So, in case you don't find a job in the near future, maybe you should save as much as you possibly can and only spend on bare necessities, like food and rent. In all your spare time you are looking for a job and pot, alcohol or cigarettes aren't even issues at this time in your life, are they? Or are they?
Are you just waiting for the government (tax money) to take care of you? There's the question.

Again, this is one of those grand money saving ideas, without little thought into actual implementation. To answer the question, NO they should not be drug tested. What needs to be fixed is the ABUSE of the UI system. Who doesn't know someone who does seasonal work? Work 6 months of the year and live free as a bird the rest. The whole concept of working X number of weeks in a given year to be able to collect is ludacris. Here is a wild and crazy idea, you can only take out what you pay in! *GASP!*. That would benefit Joe Average who has been working in a factory for 20 years and it gets shut down, but prevent every douche bag around from taking a construction job and sitting on their butts all winter (or even worse, working under the table while still collecting). The fund would never run out of money, it's impossible if you are only paying out at a MAXIMUM what people are paying in.

The candidate does have a good idea though, only test those on welfare for drugs. Quite frankly, test them for alcohol too. And tobacoo. The whole concept of welfare has gotten so out of hand it's ridiculous. It is to provide the necessities of life to those who are unable to obtain them of their own accord. The last I checked, drugs, booze, and smokes don't fall under any of the "food, clothing and shelter" categories. The working public does not pay into this fund so that some people can go partying on a saturday night without ever having worked a day in their life. I'm all for giving out money to a single mom with 3 kids who cant go to work because she doesnt have an education so paying for childcare while she has to work for minimum wage actually causes her to have a negative income. Not these 40 year old inbred yokles who are always drunk, with a smoke in their mouth while their kids sit there mal nourished and have tattered clothes on their backs. People need to lose the whole concept of left and right wing politics, and civil rights and liberties, and start using logic as a basis to run a government.

Drug test the Police and Judges handing out sentences and the politicans dictating the drug laws to feed the prison industrial complex. While they are at it, test the military industrial complex that run the vast amounts of drugs into the countries.

Drug use is, whether it be recreational or full blown, is a societal/genetic problem. Cutting anyone off of such social programs would do far more damage than good. We live in a Socialist country where we take care of the less fortunate. I sleep well knowing some of my tax dollars go to helping these individuals. Anyone who doesn't agree should go visit our neighbours to the south and live the dream LOL.

I do hope that all the people who suggest this type of conduct will volunteer and line up for drug tests, whether they are on EI or not. Let's start with Rush Limbaugh!! He should volunteer on a weekly basis.

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY THIS WOULD BE TO TEST THEM ALL????

More intervention into our personal lives, that's what we need. Do they propose to test these recipients for prescription drug abuse or alcohol abuse as well? Why can't these people get their fair share of welfare (tax dollars) regardless of their personal behavior or beliefs. Why is it the banks, politicians, investment houses, insurance companies, illegal immigrants, drug companies, auto makers and on and on get all the dole - billions and billions of dollars of it? Are they all tested for drug use? After all, it's all the same money - OURS. The unemployed pay insurance when they are working, they should get the pay-outs

Welfare recipients or the unemployed do not need further scrutiny of their lives, nor do they need some bureaucrat cutting them off of financial aid. They need jobs, jobs, jobs - in the meantime they do need aid.

This idea is crap! I'm in agreement that all politicians should have mandatory random drug testing...along withdoctors, lawyers, cops and judges....if 5% test positive pot should be free for people on EI!!!
Wow!! It's Friday...I just got off work and I gotta go smake a joint to de-stress!!!

Another way for the government not to pay money owed to civilians that payed into EI. Its no wonder PPL work under the table. Gov is good at pitting the moralists against the down and out. The gov should worry about keeping employment, rather than making cut backs and clawing money back for any infractions possible.

people have to qualify to get EI benefits by working, therefore the fact that they use drugs should not disqualify them from the benefits, unless the drug use got them fired.

OMG, what a bunch of boneheads! They are talking about EI benefits. EI stands for Employment INSURANCE. Every working American must pay EI premiums in order to carry such insurance and it is, to the best of my knowledge, MANDATORY. If someone has worked a certain period of time, they are entitled to collect on this insurance policy when needed, i.e. when they lose their job. Whether they then use the proceeds to get high is completely their own business as they are simply collecting rightful benefits from a fully-paid insurance policy. There are already safeguards in place regarding employees fired for cause (say, being high on the job) to prevent them from collecting benefits. This insurance only pays out if the insured passes relatively stringent requirements.
As many other posters have pointed out, Welfare is quite a different story altogether and perhaps that is where these politicians should direct their attention.

Why should people who use drugs be barred from receiving unemployment benefits?? They paid into it just like everyone else and they should be allowed to collect like everyone else. You have to be a fascist to think an idea like this is any good. Well, either that or a republican.

I am Canadian. I am also currently unemployed as I have a seasonal Job. Now with that said, I am all for the Government testing welfare recipients for drugs. Why not? When I was working in the arctic I had to take regular drug tests. Now my logic is, If I have to take a drug test to pay INTO the system, why shouldn't welfare users need to take a drug test to get money OUT of the system? Mind you, I have nothing against some one using weed. I never have personally, but I see no more real harm in weed than there is in Alcohol. But they can and should test welfare people for hard drug use. They also should test all the politicians, all the civil servants, and all the military for it as well. If your going to have a government job, it is your DUTY to set an example for the people you serve. Institute drug testing in the upper eschelons of the Government first, then the military, then the civil servants, THEN the welfare people. As for the regular working stiff and EI person, leave that up to their employers.

Erm, i agree about testing WELFARE recipients.

But people on EI arent on welfare, they are claiming their INSURANCE that THEY'VE paid into for unemployment protection.

Claiming EI isnt spending tax payers money - it's spending the insurance you've paid into. Same as claiming medical benefits.

- Of course no one told the government this before they went off and spent the EI money as if it was tax...

Lay off the U.I. , if they dont have an interview, who cares what they do to fill in time.
It's the welfare fraud that is a waste of taxpayer money, that is our money. Also should we or should we not continue to support teenage pregnancies??????