Each year in the United States, more than 750,000 people are arrested for drug possession based on colorimetric roadside drug test kits. These inexpensive tests are widely known to produce false positives, yet they continue to be used as a basis for arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. The result is that tens of thousands of innocent people are jailed and burdened with drug convictions that can follow them for life.
A landmark two-year study, published in December 2023 by the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania found that these error-prone field drug tests were likely the “largest known contributing factor to wrongful arrests and convictions in the US.”
The Roadside Drug Test Innocence Alliance advocates for restricting the use of colorimetric field drug tests as a basis for arrest and prosecution, and supports the use of more accurate, scientifically reliable drug identification devices by law enforcement agencies.
See how an innacurate field drug test in Florida sent an innocent mother of four to jail for 5 months.
See how an inaccurate field drug test in Georgia impacted the life of one innocent teenager.
