If you are being charged with a drug crime in New York City, one of the key pieces of evidence in your case could be a drug test. However, even if the results of your drug test came up positive for a controlled substance, this doesn’t mean you have to plead guilty.
Drug tests are flawed
There is no drug test that doesn’t have some margin of error. Whether your test was based on a urine, blood, saliva, or hair sample, there are a number of things that can go wrong. False positives are so common that a second drug test is sometimes required to confirm the first test’s results. If you are being charged for drug crimes based on just one test, you may want to ask for a second test to be performed.
Mistakes in the collection, storage, or testing
There could have been mistakes in the handling of your biological sample that led to a false positive. For example, if a blood sample is not properly refrigerated while it’s being stored, that could have led to a false positive at the laboratory. Another thing that can go wrong is a mix-up in the laboratory that leads to another person’s sample being mistaken for yours.
Other substances in your system
Sometimes a drug test comes up positive for a controlled substance due to the presence of legal substances in your body. Here is a list of just a few of the legal substances that might cause a drug test to come up positive:
• Zoloft
• Ibuprofen
• Poppy seeds
• Cough suppressants
You may be able to have the drug test thrown out
If you can successfully argue that the drug test in your case is questionable, a judge may throw that piece of evidence out. Depending on what you are being charged for, the elimination of a positive drug test could reduce your charges significantly.