Laws aimed at denying benefits to drug offenders affect only a small percentage: GAO.(Government Accountability Office)

Over the past two decades Congress has passed a number of laws to keep drug offenders from receiving various federal benefits under various circumstances. Different restrictions have been placed on educational grants, food stamps, welfare, federally assisted housing and selected licenses and contracts.

Now a complex report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an agency of Congress, says it's very difficult to say who has been affected and how many people have been affected, much less whether the laws have had an impact, such as increased deterrence. But the data that are available show that for various reasons the restrictions have impacted only a small …