Presumptive drug field tests have been used to check many people for drugs. “Presumptive” means they are meant to show whether illegal drugs are present or not, rather than actually identifying a particular drug. Many of the people asked to undergo these tests have tested positive and been prosecuted and convicted as a result.
A recent report by the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice found what many of those convicted already knew – the tests are unreliable as they can produce false positives.
Injustice on a massive scale
The report believes these tests produce false positives for around 30,000 people a year, making it “one of the largest, if not the largest, known contributing factors to wrongful arrests and convictions.”
The report is not as groundbreaking as it might sound
While the report highlights the scale of injustice, the fact that these tests are unreliable has been known all along. Yet, despite this, law enforcement agencies keep using them and taking the results as fact. Prosecutors, too, have been happy to use the tests to pressure people into accepting plea deals. While they always have the option of calling for further testing to be carried out on a person to see whether or not the presumptive test was correct, they rarely use it.
As you can see, it is perfectly possible to be convicted of a drug crime you did not commit. In such circumstances, getting experienced legal guidance can help you learn more about the potential defense options, including challenging the tests used to accuse you.