From July through October 2011 — the four months when testing took place in Florida before a federal injunction — 2.6 percent of the state’s applicants for cash assistance, or 108 of 4,086, failed the drug test, according to figures from the state obtained by the group. The most common reason was marijuana use. Another 40 applicants did not go through with the testing.
Because the Florida law required that applicants who passed the test be reimbursed for the cost, an average of $30, the cost to the state was $118,140. This was more than would have been paid in benefits to the people who failed the test.
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