Legislature 2009: Drug Testing

The Associated Press' Tom Breen provides some context for the pending legislation that would randomly drug-test those seeking food stamps, unemployment benefits or "welfare."

Lawmakers in at least seven other states have launched similar proposals, Breen found. "The effort comes as more Americans turn to these safety nets to ride out the recession," he writes. "Poverty and civil liberties advocates fear the strategy could backfire, discouraging some people from seeking financial aid and making already desperate situations worse."

Breen also found that West Virginia's bill is the most comprehensive of the measures under consideration this year, while "in the past, such efforts have been stymied by legal and cost concerns."

AP also reports that six of the co-sponsors of West Virginia's bill sought to exempt some contractors from the state's drug-free workplace law.