It is often nobly suggested that we are each other's keeper - that we are morally obligated to provide a financial safety net - and while most Americans agree in principal, the devil is in the details. The age old "give a man a fish and/or teach him to fish" is an intuitive guiding principal.
There are probably newer studies but the one below published by The National Bureau of Economic Research exposes the impact of drug use on one's educational and earning capabilities and raises the question: Is society really financially responsible for those who make such choices?
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...65.pdf&usg=AFQjCNElUVGUN2LoOJnPUM0Hf_M3WgofiQ
"Toward this end, I present the results of both descriptive and multivariate analyses of the relationship between drug use and poverty for two national samples of young adults. One sample is drawn from the National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA); the other is from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The results of the analysis indicate that for both samples, drug use is associated with greater poverty..."
"The physiological effects of drug use, particularly those related to chronic drug use, suggests that drug use is expected to result in a reduction of physical and cognitive abilities.
Consequently, drug use is expected to lower productivity, reduce earnings, and result in an increased likelihood of poverty. Similarly, drug use may adversely affect educational achievement, or attainment, and hence lower earnings and increase poverty."
There are probably newer studies but the one below published by The National Bureau of Economic Research exposes the impact of drug use on one's educational and earning capabilities and raises the question: Is society really financially responsible for those who make such choices?
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...65.pdf&usg=AFQjCNElUVGUN2LoOJnPUM0Hf_M3WgofiQ
"Toward this end, I present the results of both descriptive and multivariate analyses of the relationship between drug use and poverty for two national samples of young adults. One sample is drawn from the National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA); the other is from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The results of the analysis indicate that for both samples, drug use is associated with greater poverty..."
"The physiological effects of drug use, particularly those related to chronic drug use, suggests that drug use is expected to result in a reduction of physical and cognitive abilities.
Consequently, drug use is expected to lower productivity, reduce earnings, and result in an increased likelihood of poverty. Similarly, drug use may adversely affect educational achievement, or attainment, and hence lower earnings and increase poverty."