Romney supports drug testing of welfare recipients

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Orlando, Fla. (Pic by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr)

In an interview with a news station in Georgia, presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he supports laws requiring welfare beneficiaries to take drug tests.

When asked about such a law making its way through the Georgia Legislature, Romney told an NBC affiliate that the law is “a great idea.”

A similar law has already passed in a Colorado House committee.

“States will deal with drug testing with welfare recipients, but my own view it’s a great idea,” he said. “People who are receiving welfare benefits, government benefits — we should make sure they are not using the money for drugs. I think it’s an excellent idea.”

Florida passed a law last year that required welfare beneficiaries to take drug tests before receiving benefits, but it was subsequently blocked by a judge. Despite claims by lawmakers in Florida that supported the law, the rate of people failing the drug tests was lower than drug use in the general population. In the few months since the law was put in place, the state has actually lost money in its implementation.