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| Florida Governor Rick Scott: “We don’t want to waste tax dollars.” The new welfare drug testing program costs about $5 for every $1 it saves. |
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says it is filing a lawsuit challenging a Florida law that requires new welfare recipients to pass a drug test.
The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of a 35-year-old Orlando man, Luis Lebron, an ACLU spokesman told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The group said that Florida’s drug testing law is unconstitutional, violating the Fourth Amendment’s constitutional protections against search and seizure.
No further details of the ACLU lawsuit were immediately available.
Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the welfare drug testing bill into law in July, saying it is “unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction.”
“It is the right thing for taxpayers,” Scott said at the time. “We don’t want to waste tax dollars.”
Preliminary numbers indicate that for every $1 the new law saves, it costs about $5.
Under the law, welfare applicants must pay for their own drug tests; if they pass, they are reimbursed. If they fail, they are ineligible for welfare benefits for at least a year and could face child abuse charges.
