WGN Radio talks to ACLU of Illinois spokesperson Ed Yohnka about how the state of Florida's policy of drug testing welfare recipients and people living in public housing is a civil liberties violation.
"Remember that when governor Rick Scott of Florida announced this program he was doing it to save money - that the idea would be they would save money by kicking people off the welfare rolls who were on drugs. Less than 2% of the people they have tested so far have been discovered to have any drugs in their system, and the problem with that is that it is actually costing them money to operate this program. So whatever else anyone says, and we could say a lot about the constitutionality of the program, from a cost-saving perspective it just doesn't work. I think that that reflects a general misunderstanding about who uses drugs in our society, and the nature of drug use among poor people."
