Texas Gov. Rick Perry is raising concerns that welfare recipients in the Lone Star state could be using US taxpayers' dollars to buy illicit drugs, so he's advocating drug tests for Texans seeking welfare and unemployment benefits.

The Houston Chronicle reports that, "a bill filed before the Texas Legislature reconvenes in January would mandate drug-testing for ‘high-risk’ welfare applicants while banning them from using public funds to buy alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets. But Perry and Dewhurst, who controls the flow of legislation through the state Senate, said a top priority should be expanding such rules to include applying for unemployment insurance too."

Perry told a news conference at Austin Glass and Mirror, a small business that says it successfully drug tests its employees, that, "this will prevent tax dollars going into the pockets of drug-users and drug dealers."

According to the Houston Chronicle, "Dewhurst said that under the current proposal, anyone failing drug tests would be barred from participating in welfare programs for one year – unless they enter a drug rehabilitation program paid for by Medicaid, the government health care program for the poor."

Gov. Perry contends that drug testing could mean less cash paid out in benefits and save Texas cash "because of the effect that the screening impact will have on those individuals who would be using drugs."

To read the entire article from the Houston Chronicle, link here:

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