As of early 2017, 15 US states had passed legislation enabling drug testing of welfare applicants or recipients, primarily in relation to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families payments.
[5][6] Arguments against drug testing welfare recipients have claimed that they are unethical, politically motivated, or legally problematic; that they will cause harms; and that they are unlikely to be effectiveness and/or cost-effective.
The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed welfare drug testing laws in Florida and expressed concern about the proposal gaining traction in other states.
[17] In December 2013, federal judge Mary Stenson Scriven struck down a Florida law, passed in May 2011, that required welfare recipients to be drug tested before they could receive benefits.
State Representative Brad Wilson claimed in September 2013 that the program had saved more than $350,000 based on a drop of 247 applicants for TANF after the drug testing was instituted.