Being arrested in Illinois on charges related to drugs can be very stressful. The impact on your reputation, whether civil, personal, or economic, can be very damaging. You may risk being wrongfully detained if a faulty roadside drug test is used.
Problems with roadside drug tests
Using roadside drug tests to validate drug charges is a practice that is wrought with errors. These tests are not regulated by any currently existing agency of the U.S. government. Often, the officers who perform them have little or no training in how to do so.
A recent investigation of roadside drug test makers revealed a number of potentially alarming discoveries. One of them is that these tests are frequently manufactured in very high quantities. The materials made to use them are not always of the highest possible quality. The tests themselves are produced at a high rate of speed without inspection.
Lack of consistent standards
Agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board are calling for stricter standards for drug testing. This is crucial because nearly all drug convictions come after a plea deal is made during the initial hearings, and roadside drug testing kits are frequently used as the primary means to prove guilt. When there is no governing body that oversees the quality and administration of roadside drug tests, there can be no assurance that the results of the tests are reliable.
As a result of the growing controversy, courts have overturned 131 drug convictions in the past decade. These reversals came after laboratory analysis determined that the substances suspected of being drugs were legal substances. This has led to sustained efforts to improve the quality of these tests.