People seeking welfare assistance in Florida are less likely than the population as a whole to use illegal drugs, preliminary figures stemming from a new Florida law indicates, the Associated Press reports.
The law, which went into effect in July, requires state residents to be screened for illegal drug use when they apply for state financial assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program.
Republican Gov. Rick Scott and other supporters of the law argued that it would keep welfare recipients from using state money to buy illegal drugs.
But preliminary figures from the state Department of Children and Families indicate that only about 2.5 percent of welfare applicants tested positive for drug use compared with the about 6 percent of Americans older than 12 who the U.S. Justice Department estimates use drugs.
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