In this episode, I take a look at rapid (roadside) drug tests which are often used as probable cause for arrest. Police make up to 100k arrests every year using Roadside Drug tests with a failure rate high enough to require lab tests for validation of every charge in most jurisdictions. But even though you can't convict someone based on a rapid roadside test, you can arrest them and keep them locked up until they can pay the ransom or do the time. And you can use the roadside results to pressure them into pleading guilty, even if lab results eventually show no drugs were actually discovered. 

You can check out popular articles from The New York Times for Amy Albritton's story in Houston,  or ProPublica to read about  Dasha Fincher's million dollar bond.

Research published in the Journal of Drug Testing and Analysis found oral cannabis tests return both false positives and false negatives, and that even CBD-heavy products might trip saliva tests for THC, resulting in possession or DUI  charges when drivers are in fact not consuming THC. You can also watch the Atlanta Fox 5 story about Vitamin C causing false MDMA positives in roadside tests, as happened to Clarice Daku.

For more about how "Reality Police TV" is problematic, check out the podcasts, Headlong: Running from COPS or Wrongful Convictions: Junk Science-Roadside Drug Tests.

*It appears some episodes of COPS have been updated to remove content which has drawn the attention of social justice advocates. The pieces discussed in this episode appear to be on that list as of  Oct. 2021.

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