SHAMEFUL PRECEDENT

Regarding 'New laws require pension contributions, ultrasounds'
(Metro, June 30): The new law that took effect July 1 requiring all
state welfare applicants get drug-tested before they can receive
assistance is a shameful and foolish precedent. Drug tests are
notoriously inaccurate. Administering them will require more
government bureaucracy, and studies show welfare recipients are no
more likely to use drugs than the average person.

A federal court struck down a similar state law as unconstitutional,
and lawmakers in Idaho recently determined that welfare drug-testing
would cost their state more money than it would save. It is cruel to
insist that the poor pay out of their own pocket for a drug test that
cannot even tell the difference between the poppy seed bagel eaten
for breakfast and street heroin.

GRANT SMITH WASHINGTON , D.C The writer is federal policy
coordinator, Office of National Affairs, Drug Policy Alliance.