Post by ck4829 on Dec 15, 2016 16:58:53 GMT
PORTLAND, Ore. — Police agencies nationwide have for decades relied on field tests to screen for suspected drugs.
Most test kits include small vials inside a plastic pouch. Officers put suspected drugs into the pouch, seal it, break the vials, then check to see if the fluid inside the pouch turns a certain color that indicates the presence of an illegal drug like cocaine.
But who tests those tests? Do the test kits just react to the drugs listed on the test package, or can something else trigger positive results?
Critics like John Kelly say they can and do.
“These tests have been the source of many, many wrongful convictions,” says Kelly, author of a 2008 publication called “False Positives Equals False Justice,” which questions the validity of those field drug tests. “We were testing these tests and that happened with one of our tests. We just, we just put it for a second on the windowsill and in this case I think it turned positive for marijuana."
The Marijuana Policy Project presented those results to the National Press Club in 2009 -- Kelly was there when it happened.
One test of crushed Tylenol showed what appeared to be a positive result in a cocaine test kit.
Other tests found that most any kind of chocolate will trigger a positive result for marijuana.
In July, Propublica published its own report criticizing the drug tests, saying some suspects plead guilty to drug charges before those field drug test results are verified by lab tests.
The maker of the field test kits used by Portland Police sent a statement to KATU News that said in part, "False positives are possible in field tests due to the limitations of the science they are not a substitute for laboratory testing."
katu.com/news/local/multnomah-county-reviews-field-drug-test-guilty-pleas-asks-that-some-be-dismissed
Who tests the tests and the testers?
Most test kits include small vials inside a plastic pouch. Officers put suspected drugs into the pouch, seal it, break the vials, then check to see if the fluid inside the pouch turns a certain color that indicates the presence of an illegal drug like cocaine.
But who tests those tests? Do the test kits just react to the drugs listed on the test package, or can something else trigger positive results?
Critics like John Kelly say they can and do.
“These tests have been the source of many, many wrongful convictions,” says Kelly, author of a 2008 publication called “False Positives Equals False Justice,” which questions the validity of those field drug tests. “We were testing these tests and that happened with one of our tests. We just, we just put it for a second on the windowsill and in this case I think it turned positive for marijuana."
The Marijuana Policy Project presented those results to the National Press Club in 2009 -- Kelly was there when it happened.
One test of crushed Tylenol showed what appeared to be a positive result in a cocaine test kit.
Other tests found that most any kind of chocolate will trigger a positive result for marijuana.
In July, Propublica published its own report criticizing the drug tests, saying some suspects plead guilty to drug charges before those field drug test results are verified by lab tests.
The maker of the field test kits used by Portland Police sent a statement to KATU News that said in part, "False positives are possible in field tests due to the limitations of the science they are not a substitute for laboratory testing."
katu.com/news/local/multnomah-county-reviews-field-drug-test-guilty-pleas-asks-that-some-be-dismissed
Who tests the tests and the testers?