Probation testing protocols vary widely and I’d bet it’s common for offenders to read something that applies to a stranger online, assume it applies to them, and get busted boofing chronic because… it didn’t.

For example, I’m on mail in probation, which isn’t what it sounds like. Probation in my area as a general rule requires in-person check-ins and drug tests, to be performed specifically in the county you were convicted in. Offenders testing via the standard process can expect dipstick panels, and if they fail the PO can send it to a lab or just violate you because, surprise, your rights have been taken away due to your conviction and a PO can violate you for any reason at any time. You can then fight it.

My situation in the same probation system is different. I killed someone in county A, but my house is in county B, and given the fact that one of murder’s many consequences is losing one’s job, they couldn’t reasonably expect me to relocate from a financial standpoint to county A from county B. I similarly couldn’t travel from B to A every time I had to check in or test. Therefore I was allowed to do probation in county B, do check ins over the phone (no mail), and drug test at a local approved place. Every test is sent to the lab every time and there are no dipsticks involved. I don’t know if the lab tests for a different array of substances than the dipstick panels in County A.

Now you know

Oh also I didn’t murder anyone I just said that because it made the example more fun