The battle for the nomination of the Republican party has moved to Florida this week, which also happens to be a key battleground in the fight that is completely different: $ 15bn Federal launches war on drugs.
Passed in July last year, the controversial law requires the State welfare recipients submit to drug testing–and to pay the cost of screening. Nearly 1,600 applicants refused to submit to testing last year, while more than 7,000 took the exam and passed. Thirty-two applicants are failing, most of them tested positive for marijuana.
The law temporarily blocked in October, but the necessary testing to federal aid has become a hot-key issues in the debate on drug policy, and has received the explicit endorsement of Newt Gingrich. American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit over 35 years of father that one object to the legislation, argued the law violates the right of Amendment 4
With more than 100,000 inmates, the prison system of the Sunshine State’s third largest country, at a cost of $ 1bn a year to 2. maintain, according to Julie Ebenstein, policy and advocacy counsel to the Florida Chapter of the ACLU.
Ebenstein believe that prisoners serving time for drug costs would have been better-and more affordable-served by treatment rather than spending time behind bars.