--- description: The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a letter that the Georgia law scheduled to go into effect in early July violates federal policy title: USDA Says Georgia's Food Stamps Drug Testing Law Is Illegal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d5896749e67127a/6986961835ba6f2317c026a2/ap138855603158.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [georgia](/tag/georgia/) ## georgia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # USDA: Georgia Can't Drug Test Food Stamp Users  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 3, 2014 11:59 PM CUT  Georgia Governor Nathan Deal speaks in Ellijay, Ga., on April 23, 2014. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal speaks in Ellijay, Ga., on April 23, 2014.John Rawlston—AP  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 3, 2014 11:59 PM CUT The U.S. Department of Agriculture will not allow the state of Georgia to force participants in food stamp programs to pass drug screenings first, authorities [said](http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wabe/files/201406/FNS%5FLetter%5Fto%5FDHS%5FDrug%5FTesting%5FHB%5F772%5FDone%5F6-3-14.pdf "undefined") Tuesday. In March, Governor Nathan Deal signed a law passed by the state legislature that would require drug testing if a state employee believes with “reasonable suspicion” that a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participant is under the influence, the Atlanta [_Journal-Constitution_](http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/feds-georgia-cant-tie-food-stamps-to-drug-tests/ngDCQ/ "undefined") reports. The law is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, but Robin D. Bailey, the regional administrator of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, wrote in a [letter](http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wabe/files/201406/FNS%5FLetter%5Fto%5FDHS%5FDrug%5FTesting%5FHB%5F772%5FDone%5F6-3-14.pdf "undefined") posted by Atlanta’s NPR station, [WABE](http://wabe.org/post/usda-says-new-georgia-food-stamp-law-violates-federal-policy "undefined"), that this would violate Department of Agriculture policy, which “prohibits States from imposing additional standards of eligibility for SNAP participation.” Georgia’s neighbor to the south, Florida, also tried to pass drug testing requirements for food stamps, but federal courts later declared those to be unconstitutional, [the Associated Press reports](http://wjcl.com/2014/06/03/usda-says-ga-food-stamp-law-violates-federal-rules/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2820711/usda-georgia-food-stamps-drug-testing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2820711/usda-georgia-food-stamps-drug-testing/"},"headline":"USDA: Georgia Can't Drug Test Food Stamp Users","datePublished":"2014-06-03T23:59:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:12:01.286Z","description":"The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a letter that the Georgia law scheduled to go into effect in early July violates federal policy","url":"https://time.com/2820711/usda-georgia-food-stamps-drug-testing/","keywords":["georgia","welfare","USDA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d5896749e67127a/6986961835ba6f2317c026a2/ap138855603158.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d5896749e67127a/6986961835ba6f2317c026a2/ap138855603158.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Georgia carry law","caption":"Georgia carry law","creditText":"John Rawlston—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/georgia/","name":"georgia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2820711/usda-georgia-food-stamps-drug-testing/","name":"USDA: Georgia Can't Drug Test Food Stamp Users"}}]}] ```