Military Drug Crimes and Positive Urinalysis

Aggressive, dedicated, and experienced military defense team fighting for Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Sailors, and Coast Guardsmen all over the world.

It is no secret that since the early 1980’s the United States military randomly tests its service members for illicit substances. In fact, as of 2019, the DoD tests approximately 60,000 service members every month. The military takes these samples and sends them to several different federal laboratories for testing.  If a sample comes back positive for any illicit substance (for example, THC [marijuana] cocaine or opiates), under current DoD policy, you will be flagged, likely investigated and subject to mandatory administrative separation proceedings. In fact, while less common, the military can even charge you under the UCMJ and refer your case to a court martial.

If this happens to you, you may feel that your career is over. You may wonder how your sample returned an indication for drug use when you know that you have not used drugs.  You may feel ostracized, or blackballed from your unit.  In fact, the very same people who supported you before the drug test will likely turn their backs on you and force you to fight the charge alone.

 Without taking swift action, and without the right team behind you, you may find yourself quickly kicked out of the military, deprived of significant and hard-earned benefits, like your GI Bill, your retirement and even VA medical benefits.

However, what most service members don’t know is that it is not illegal to fail a urinalysis test. It is only illegal to knowingly and consciously use an illegal substance.  Most military prosecutors will try to convince the military panel that you are guilty simply because you have a drug in your system, and without an experienced defense team defending you, you may be unable to develop a theory of defense, which means you will most likely be found guilty.

Innocent Ingestion Defense:

In any drug case, the first thing we look for is whether you unknowingly ingested the illegal substance.  A subset of drug cases are those called “innocent ingestion” where the service member truly has a valid test sample for an illicit substance in his or her blood or urine. However, in innocent ingestion cases, the service member consumed the illicit substance innocently, unknowingly and unintentionally. For example, we have successfully represented a member of the National Guard who innocently ate several marijuana-laced brownies, not knowing they contained THC. In another case, we successfully argued that a Special Forces Sergeant be retained despite cocaine being found in his test sample. We successfully argued that he unknowingly ingested cocaine through eating and drinking tainted food while on deployment to Colombia.

Remember, the Government must do more in trial than simply produce your positive urinalysis results.  The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you knowingly and wrongly ingested the illegal substance.  Your intent to use an illicit drug matters, and the government must prove that you intended to use it. If the government fails to prove that you intended to ingest an ilicit drug, they have failed to carry their burden of proof.  Over the past decade, we have successfully represented service members in scores of innocent ingestion cases across all branches of the military.  We have seen cases where the service member was illegally drugged against his will, tricked into eating marijuana brownies, accidently took a spouse’s medication, got contaminated with cocaine through contact with a known user, and we’ve had clients prescribed the wrong prescription medications, which lead to a false positive on their test.  Innocent ingestion defenses must be specifically tailored, meticulously investigated, and properly executed during trial to ensure that you don’t lose your career over a false allegation or misunderstanding.

Collection and Testing Errors:

Military prosecutors will do everything they can to convince a panel during courts-martial (or an administrative board) that the military’s drug testing procedures are flawless.  If you do not have an experienced defense counsel at your side, you may overlook subtle steps in the collection, transportation, and testing process that can lead to an incorrect positive urinalysis.  Every service has specific instructions that must be followed exactly to ensure a proper collection and chain of custody.  Any deviation from those instructions may lead to a serious mistake that may put your military career in jeopardy.  Over the course of the past 10 years, we have seen cases where the UPL did not seal the sample correctly, transport the sample correctly, or even pack the sample correctly.  We have seen cases where there is spillage or leakage in the samples when they are transported from the installation to the laboratory for testing, and we have seen cases were samples are missing after being collected.  All of these mistakes can question the validity of the sample and may be the difference between you being convicted of a federal offense or saving your military career.

We have the experience, skill, talent, and resources to ensure that your case gets the attention it deserves and that your theory of defense is meticulously investigated and persuasively argued to the military panel. Call us today if you are facing charges of illicit drug use.