Welfare recipients in Ontario, Canada may face mandatory drug tests under a new plan unveiled on Wednesday by the Ontario government. The new policy, which was part of last year’s Tory platform, requires drug tests of welfare recipients to determine who use drugs and to treat those who test positive for drugs. Welfare recipients who refuse to be tested would not be eligible for financial assistance.
According to the Tory party platform booklet titled “Blueprint,” “It’s common sense — you can’t get off welfare and hold a job if you’re addicted to drugs.”
Critics suggest the Ontario government may not be able to implement the new plan following a Court of Appeal case last July that declared drug testing by companies a violation of the province’s human rights code. In that case, the judges ruled drug tests done on urine samples cannot be justified because, unlike breathalyzers which indicate actual alcohol intoxication, drug tests do not test impairment, just past use. The Canadian Civil Liberties Union said they would likely challenge the drug testing program if were implemented.
“I’d be interested to know how the Tories feel about a welfare recipient, who, while not a marijuana user, abuses tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals,” said Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director. “Why should those citizens get to retain government benefits and house while abusing the peaceable marijuana smoker?”
In 1996, the United States Congress authorized states to drug test welfare recipients only where there is suspicion of drug use and voluntary programs for substance abuse and mental health problems. The Michigan legislature was the first and only state legislature to approve a law mandating drug tests for all welfare recipients which began in October 1999. The Michigan ACLU was able to obtain a temporary restraining order by a U.S. District judge that November and this past September a federal judge in Michigan struck down the law.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director at (202) 483-8751 or Scott Colvin, NORML Publications Director at (202) 483-5500.
