Legal Question in DUI Law in California

standard drug screens/false positive ?

Hello, I've searched on-line to no avail, regarding the standard Ca. (San Diego county) drug screens for dui.Does this standard $50.00 test indicate the diffences in methamphetamine and amphetamines, or psuedoaphederine? I have read several articles pertaining to false positives due to a person having taken over the counter cold/flu medication.Does the screen used by law enforcement differentiate, between say sudafed or an inhaler, (high incontent of psuedoaphedarine) I can find no information pertaining to exactly what the test covers. It seems to me that the ''basic'' 50.00 screen just covers the existance of amphetamines w/out detailing further the ''exact'' substance. Is this true, or not?

Thank You


Asked on 1/31/04, 5:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Miller Robert L. Miller & Associates, A Law Corporation

Re: standard drug screens/false positive ?

Thanks for your posting. Your question depends somewhat on what crime lab or hospital/university lab is used to do the testing, but typically the reason for a "false positive" is that a more thorough screening is not done.

It takes a court order releasing a sample and then a more comprehensive test, in most situations, to distinguish between markers that might indicate a false positive.

I hope this helps, but if you need legal representation, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected].

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Answered on 2/01/04, 1:33 pm


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