Imagine a family member suffering from a meth addiction, close to death but there is nothing that can

be done to save them, but the government continues feeding they’re addiction, then one day they die of
an overdose. Is money really the solution to these problems? Do we just throw money to addicts
expecting them to save themselves? Surely, we can provide better alternatives than that. Illicit drug
usage has been causing rapid and detrimental deterioration in our society for generations. Leaving
families absolutely devastated, causing violence, poverty, unemployment, and death. Although ice
addiction has already been declared as a public health crisis while 73% of Australians supporting drug
tests, this issue persists as an ongoing problem due to the absence of mandatory drug testing of dole
recipients. Today I’ll be giving the reasons why it is a good idea to drug test dole recipients

Firstly, by introducing this new proposal to dole recipients, those recipients who are tested positive of
using drugs will still have support from the government through rehabilitation without being stigmatized
for their actions. They will also be provided with cashless welfare giving them access to selected goods.
Some opposed to this proposal might argue that this is an invasion of citizen’s privacy, however this is
completely out of the case, as it completely ignores the fact that receiving welfare is a privilege and not
a right, it’s not an invasion of privacy as the recipients are not being forced to receive welfare. In other
words, no one is being invaded unwillingly, urinating into a container is really not such a difficult task
especially when the recipient hasn’t used any drugs. This action only takes less than a few minutes to be
done. It certainly is a better alternative than dying of an overdose on heroin or meth without any
support but just more money for more heroin and more meth. Recipients who are tested positive
instead of receiving welfare, they will have the help provided to them with a much more specific
solution tailored to drug users needs such as rehab and cashless welfare.

Secondly, this can lessen abuse in households of drug use. In accordance to the Child Safety Department
from Queensland, a terrifying 60% of children with ice addicted parents endured severe neglect, and
almost one-third experiencing emotional harm. While 10% suffer from physical abuse and 1.5%
experiencing sexual abuse from their own parents. Try putting yourself in the shoes of these children
who have had their innocence completely taken away from them. Scott Morrison, a member of the
Australian house of representatives stated that his government is “trying to make welfare recipients
more responsible”. As blunt as this sounds, there is truth to it, by implementing this drug test on
recipients, they’re main source of drug money would no longer be available, thus leaving them to take
responsibility and prioritize other factors that are more important such as their own survival, or family
and children. It is also argued that there are more people unemployed that don’t use drugs, but in
reality if that really is the case, what’s so difficult about a simple drug test then? Only those minority
who do use drugs need to be worried.

Thirdly, As a diligent worker and a taxpayer like many of you, wouldn’t we like to be ensured that our
money that we earn is going to recipients for the right reasons? Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely in
support for welfare if recipients are using money for the right purposes. But if our money is constantly
funding someone’s ice, it’s neither good for us taxpayers, the government, or the addicts. Should we
really be paying 20% of our taxes to unpredictable dole recipients?

Ultimately, the solution is to make this proposal happen as it serves all of us a reminder that money is
not the only solution, this is evident through so many cases where drug addicts on welfare die from
addiction. At the end of the day recipients being tested positive for drug use must begin taking
responsibility, and it is our job to encourage and support them the best we can to integrate them back
to society healthy. This is beneficial for everyone whether it’s the taxpayer, the government, or the drug
addict.