"If you want to use illicit drugs, go and get a job," the crossbencher said on Tuesday.

She also wants drug and alcohol testing in all workplaces and in schools.

"Dole payments are meant to be a social safety net to protect you from the hard falls in life, not a jumping castle for you and your mates to party on," Senator Lambie said in the Senate.

"Just because I stick up for the underdog, that doesn't mean I accept that welfare money can be spent lining the pockets of drug dealers."

Senator Lambie commissioned a study into relevant polices in other countries.

She said it showed several US states had laws requiring drug testing of welfare applicants and recipients, generally only when there was reasonable suspicion of drug use.

It had been proposed but not implemented in the UK and Canada.

Senator Lambie said it had been discussed in Australia but the government had ruled it out.

She has also called for the extension of drug testing to all workplaces, including Parliament.

Drug testing is commonplace in industries including mining and construction.