John Coffelt, Editor

A new policy at Coffee County Probation will be to send contested in-office tests with positive results to a lab for conformation.

But those challenging the results could see jail time if the lab confirms the results.

According to Director of Probation Linda Baker during her regular report to the Coffee County Law Enforcement Committee, offenders on probation are given drug screens in the office. Those failing the drug screen and confirm the results to a probation officer have the choice of going to a rehabilitation program or face a violation of probation.

Baker said sometimes the client will admit to smoking marijuana but will want to challenge the positive result for opioids or methamphetamine.

“I’ve been getting a lot more questions from attorneys that want to know why we (didn’t) do that,” Baker told the committee at the March 9 meeting.

Baker said that there will be additional costs to send the tests to a lab, resulting in a significant increase in the probation office budget.

“I cannot pinpoint and tell you how much it will cost because we don’t know that. I can tell you how much it will cost to send each one off… but we don’t know how many we will have,” Baker said.

Baker said the probation office’s goal is to get the client help, not to just put people in jail.

“We are trying to say do you want to do jail or do rehab,” she said.

Those asking for the lab test will forgo the rehab outpatient option. The goal is to prevent clients from trying to delay the process at the expense of the county. 

Baker said that in the week since the change has been made, one client has failed a drug screen and requested, initially, the lab conformation. Baker said the person later changed her mind and accepted rehab.

“We are not testing more; we’re not testing less. We’re testing when it needs to be done,” Baker said.

“Give me an extra $15,000 on my budget and there’s the possibility that can save half a million dollar lawsuit.” 

By the numbers

Baker said that most of the clients with failed drug screens will admit they have used prior to the test.

A drug screen costs the county just over $3, down from $5 prior to the shift in policy. When sent to the lab various substances can be tested for at addition cost for each. Testing for methamphetamine and opioids would be $30 ($15 each).

Shipping fewer than five tests cost $12.    

Clients are billed $10 for the test and $40 if sent to the lab.

Fees are collected by the county court clerk’s office, not the probation office.

Baker said that since the new judges have taken the bench, the collections review hearings have been suspended. She noted that offenders’ court cost collections have dropped.

Delta-8 positives

Attitudes concerning marijuana use may be changing, but legally it remains an illicit drug. Testing is still done for THC, the psychotropic ingredient in pot.

Labs often can’t recognize the difference between people who have smoked pot and those who have consumed Delta-8 infused products.    

“We tell them don’t be using that stuff that you find in gas stations and grocery stores because if it shows up positive in drug screens, we have no way to differentiate that.”

She said the chemical makeup of those products change so often that drug testing companies can’t always keep up.

“There’s a lot of questions of how can that be sold legally, but then show up positive on a drug screen,” she said.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.