Drug Testing in the Criminal Justice System
Drug testing is performed in all stages of the criminal justice system: arrest, in the pretrial phase and during incarceration, probation and parole. The purpose of testing for drugs is to inform judges for bail-setting and sentencing, indicating whether specified rules or conditions are being complied with and identifying persons in need of treatment. A positive test results only shows the presence or absence pf specific drugs found in urine at the detectable level of the test. However, it cannot detect the amount of usage, when the drug was administrated and the degree of impairment.
| Drug tests are often ordered for the following reasons: |
|---|
| Divorce cases |
| DUI arrests |
| Criminal cases |
| Child custody cases |
| Child support cases |
| Child protection services |
Source: US Department of Justice (1992, March). Fact Sheet: Drug Testing in the Criminal Justice System.
Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/dtest.pdf, May 31
