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Thursday, March 02, 2006
Ind. Courts - More on: Judge clears way for challenge to oral drug tests
This Feb. 16th ILB entry quoted from a story in the Munster (NW Indiana) Times that began:
VALPARAISO | Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper agreed Wednesday to provide funding for lab work in a case she hopes will address concerns about the reliability of an oral drug test used by the county's adult probation department. "I absolutely want to know the truth of the situation," she said.On Monday, Feb. 27th, the NWI Times published this report by Bob Kasarda, titled "Loophole discovered in drug test cases." Some quotes:
VALPARAISO | The jury still is out on the reliability of an oral drug test used by the county's adult probation department.But the debate has shed light on a loophole in the process that could allow some offenders to escape accusations of using illegal drugs.
The loophole, which is in the process of being closed, was discovered in most versions of the rules for probation and home detention used by the county courts, Porter County Adult Probation Chief Neil Hannon said.
The rules in question require participants to submit to a urine test for the purpose of detecting alcohol or illegal drug use, he said. A problem arises in that the probation department also uses a mouth swab for drug testing and yet that is not specified in the rules agreed to by offenders.
Hannon said his department was in the process last week of modifying the rules to include more general language that will allow for all types of drug tests.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 2, 2006 03:15 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts