Welfare - Drug Use NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on a little known provision in the federal welfare law that denies benefits to recipients who have a drug conviction. Some states have chosen to opt out of the provision, but in those that haven't, tens of thousands of women and children are affected. Critics say the ban, intended to keep welfare money from ending up in the pockets of drug dealers, can prevent women with substance-abuse problems from turning their lives around.

Welfare - Drug Use

Welfare - Drug Use

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NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on a little known provision in the federal welfare law that denies benefits to recipients who have a drug conviction. Some states have chosen to opt out of the provision, but in those that haven't, tens of thousands of women and children are affected. Critics say the ban, intended to keep welfare money from ending up in the pockets of drug dealers, can prevent women with substance-abuse problems from turning their lives around.