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Utah Checked Almost 5,000 People On Welfare For Drugs And The Results Almost Made Me Throw Something

I wonder what Utah thought they’d find when they implemented mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients? After spending $25,000, I doubt this was it. The moral of the story? I’d say the “sketchy drug addict” narrative that continues to be assigned to people on government assistance isn’t really that accurate … or fair.

By

Franchesca Ramsey

CORRECTION: A previous version of the top chart said 12 out of almost 5,000 welfare recipients in Utah failed a drug test. According to the AP story, Utah gave 4,730 applicants a written test. After 466 showed “a likelihood of drug use,” they were given actual drug tests, which 12 failed. We’ve corrected the headline and the first chart and made the second chart above to reflect that.

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