December 21, 2011 9:49 PM

Perry: I don't have problem with drug-testing welfare recipients

By
Rebecca Kaplan
Topics
Campaign 2012

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to local residents during a campaign stop at The Button Factory restaurant, Dec. 21, 2011, in Muscatine, Iowa.

(Credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

MT. PLEASANT, Iowa - Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday he wouldn't be opposed to welfare recipients also being drug tested, joining fellow candidate Newt Gingrich in suggesting that federal aid should be tied to substance use.

"I don't have a problem with before you get any dollars from the federal government that you're drug tested," Perry said in response to a man who suggested the idea in a question to him at a meet-and-greet in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, that drew over 80 people. Perry pointed out that as a pilot in the Air Force, he himself had been drug tested. "I don't have a problem in the world with that," he said.

Gingrich made waves on the same subject when he told Yahoo News in late November one of the ways to curb drug use in part by making it more expensive. "It could be through testing before you get any kind of federal aid. Unemployment compensation, food stamps, you name it," he said.

The idea of requiring drug tests for people receiving federal assistance has been popular within Republican circles for some time and has come to head as an issue this year as three dozen states saw legislators attempt to tie substance use to benefits. The proposals have been met with controversy by civil liberties groups who say it violates the rights of those seeking assistance from the government.


  • Rebecca Kaplan

    Rebecca Kaplan covers the 2012 presidential campaign for CBS News and National Journal.

Add a Comment See all 65 Comments
by HenryMassingale December 29, 2011 10:44 AM EST
I kind of dis agree, it does not violate The Peoples Right for a fight for a Drug Free America.
What does violate The People's Rights is the death of so many because of Oxy Heroin. A FDA Federal byLaws Governed Drug.
2nd Debit Issue, between Canada and the USA, 1.2 million people died from Oxy Heroin.June 30, 2011, C-Span-3 on TV, the Capital Hill, Director Senator Sheldon, Senate Judiciary Sub Committee for Crime and Terrorism. Announcement Oxy. Heroin, this Heroin Health Care Concept, in 2007 that 27,000 Americans died, from this Opioid. So if this Oxy Heroin is so good for the economy, where is the money ?
Food Stamps for For Drugs, and the children go hungry.
Welcome to a new goal against the hands of Government Officials.
So Perry when was the Last time you had a Drug Test a matter of recorded des Government Officials take Drug Test....
I mean we very well can not have the President Of The United State with his hand on the button while on Oxy Heroin.
No silly not that button the Internet Button, boy I sure would miss my Internet.
Drug Testing To Buy A Gun
Posted by Henry Massingale on December 28, in Teenage Patriots
Back to Teenage Patriots Discussions
Should Drug Test be done to buy a gun ?
The Following Post at the Tea Party Sites, have opened the eyes of a great many people, and they are now posting with this issue.
I for one remember the day when the heroin user shot the Congress Lady and the death of a child has marked Us and our Government Officals for the lack of insite. This is how I feel about it...
Hello to All, you are asked to join us in a Internet Interface Program and the goal is called,
Drug Testing To Buy Guns vs. The Reapers
A F.A.S.C. Concepts News Story byMassingale
Founder and Director of the Tea Party Independent Forum. So big smile there President Obama. The Third Party is being built by Democrats and Republicans, just people who are burnt out of seeing to many lies and failures in the last 10 years.
Reply to this comment
by stiff-off bucky December 22, 2011 4:57 PM EST
YES!!!Definitely drug testing for any one getting benefits from tax $!!!Politicians and police tested FIRST!!!
Reply to this comment
by gmal4343 December 23, 2011 12:53 PM EST
read the 4th amendment of the constitution on illegal search and seizure.
by gmal4343 December 23, 2011 12:56 PM EST
it has already been stopped by a federal judge in orlando.
by slatep December 22, 2011 1:44 PM EST
Individual states shoul not have to enact a law that those who receive Federal assistance be drug tested.

This should have been enacted as a law years ago; one passed by the Feds making it a law nation wide.
Reply to this comment
by sandy 1027 December 22, 2011 12:06 PM EST
One of the reasons that the governor of Florida is so unpopular is because he pushed for mandatory drug testing of welfare recipients.I read a newspaper article,( I think it was in "The Miami Herald") that said that in 7000 people tested , they found only 32 cases that were positive.That's about 1/2 of 1%( a little less ); and because the state agreed to reimburse those whose tests were negative, Florida was losing money.An earlier study had shown that welfare recipients , in fact, had tested positively less frequently than the general population.After seeing what has happened in Florida,I think the idea that there is rampant drug use by welfare recipients has been disproved.
Reply to this comment
by MarineVet46 December 22, 2011 12:53 PM EST
Rick Scott, the Gov. of Florida, paid a $1.7 BILLION fine for Medicare fraud while CEO of Columbia/HCA.
Right and wrong don't compute for him.
by eteamer December 22, 2011 11:19 AM EST
Just more GOP trying to bring big government into every facet of our lives. And hey guess what, pot is leagle in some states. Talk about stomping on states rights. GOP=Big government
Reply to this comment
by ruffiannd December 22, 2011 10:18 AM EST
Fine by me as long as we drug test everyone else receiving public money - like politicians.
Reply to this comment
by dtschuck December 22, 2011 9:11 AM EST
We're together on this, Rick. I don't have a problem testing people that receive government benefits.....as long as that includes politicians and employees.
Reply to this comment
by starving1968-3 December 22, 2011 10:18 AM EST
"Like"
by Samlv December 22, 2011 9:09 AM EST
We don't need to test ALL of them -- just pass a law which makes random testing legal.

They'll get the message.

If you really wanted to take a bite, make exchanging food stamps for cash or mis-redeeming them for cigarettes a federal felony. That's how they get the cash for stuff like weed.
Reply to this comment
by fedup12 December 22, 2011 8:26 AM EST
Im not against it.

If they can afford drugs maybe they shouldnt be on welfare.

I agree though. It would be another bloated poorly managed government program. It would take more money to run than it saved.

Which amazes me Perry doesnt see that. Makes you wonder about him.
Reply to this comment
by dtschuck December 22, 2011 9:18 AM EST
economicterror, you are exactly right. The Right's largest fixation is always on the smallest problem, be it drug testing for the couple percent of users, which may be less than the population as a whole, or passing voter suppression laws to discourage illegal voting, which in 2008, accounted for a couple handful over the entire nation.

In the mean time, Wall Street runs wild, credit card companies are gouging our eyes out and Big Business is selling their soul, and our jobs, to China to make their numbers for next quarter---but not a peep about any of that.....just worried that someone may have smoked a joint or there were two people in Tennessee that voted illegally, though there were thousands of legal residents that were prohibited from voting because they got caught up in the very increaing web of requirements and secret handshakes...just so one can exercise their right to vote.

Shame, shame shame. Everything is about what makes them feel good, not do good.
by Catch22NJ December 22, 2011 7:04 AM EST
We'd get more bang for the bucks if we drug tested the politicians.
Reply to this comment
by Samlv December 22, 2011 9:07 AM EST
ROFL! Classic!
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