Recipients of state aid must prove that they are “drug-free,” according to a measure passed by the Florida House on Tuesday. House Bill 271 requires all state welfare recipients to undergo random drug testing, and denies entitlements to those who consecutively test positive for marijuana. The bill now awaits Senate approval.
“This bill subjects impoverished people to unreasonable searches as a mandatory condition of receiving public assistance,” NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said. “This is bad policy and likely unconstitutional.”
Stroup said that the Supreme Court ruled a Georgia drug testing statute unconstitutional in 1997 because the state failed to demonstrate a “special need” substantial enough to override Fourth Amendment protections. He speculated that a similar court challenge could strike down Florida’s pending legislation.
Howard Simon, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, said the organization opposes state-mandated random drug testing. “It is not a crime to be poor in America,” he said. “If there is no reasonable suspicion of drug abuse, then people have a right to be left alone and not forced to surrender their privacy rights.”
Under the pending law, individuals who test positive for marijuana once will be required to undergo a 90-day rehabilitation period. Repeat offenders will no longer receive state entitlements.
The Louisiana legislature approved a similar measure in 1997, but has yet to develop a cost-efficient way to implement the program. “Random drug testing on this wide a scale will cost Florida taxpayers millions of dollars unnecessarily,” Stroup said.
For more information, please contact either the ACLU of Florida @ (305) 576-2337 or Keith Stroup of NORML @ (202) 483-5500.