El Paso County is the only Colorado county drug testing welfare recipients

El Paso County welfare recipients can now be tested for drugs or alcohol, but only if they are suspected of abusing the substances.

The county admits they have no idea how much this could cost, or how many people will be tested monthly.

They believe that cost is one of the reasons no other county in the state has done this yet.

2,200 people will walk through the doors of the El Paso County Adult Services building this month alone.

But it’s not a free pass anymore.

“Part of our goal is to help reduce challenges and barriers, and substance abuse is one of those challenges and barriers,” said Cheryl Schnell of El Paso County Human Services.

Meaning if a case worker suspects someone is high, they’ll have to complete a drug test.

It’s something recipients like Kaylyn Dowse agree with.

“You have to get a drug test to get any job out here? They’re not going to give you money to get high,” she said.

It’s also something that’s been pushed statewide before.

In 2012, a bill in the Colorado Senate would have imposed similar restrictions but it failed.

Welfare programs are state supervised, but counties can still set any rules they see fit.

El Paso County is the only one in Colorado to implement a policy like this, and one likely reason is cash.

In Florida, the state spent $118,000 on drug tests and only found 2.6 percent of recipients ever tested positive.

Eventually, a state court struck down the law as unconstitutional.

El Paso County insists this isn’t meant to be punishment, but merely helping their patients, which would only be tested if suspected.

“We’re not sure what to expect at this point. Most of the people on our program are in a circumstance that was unavoidable,” Schnell said.

The new regulation affects anyone in El Paso County on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also known as Colorado Works.