Joined army-tested positive for cocaine=bs

[Psycho1 0]

I'm 17 and I decided to sign up for the Army under the delayed entry program. I take all those tests, and I get a very good job because I scored fairly well in the ASVAB test, I got an 88 and the highest score you can get is a 99. I get a $1,000 bonus with the job, and it is the type of job I was aiming for too. The official title is Network Switch System Operator, I WOULD have been able to build and maintain computer networks for the Army, and the job provides excellent opportunities for advancement. It also has secret security clearance as well.

After I get through with all the testing at the facility, I go home all happy because I have an excellent future with this job. I go to my first delayed entry event and it was pretty fun....then a few days later I get a call from my recruiter. He says he has bad news and tells me I tested positive for cocaine in the urinalysis. I'm thinking he must be joking, but he said he wasn't. My jaw dropped because I haven't used a damn illegal drug ever in my life. Hell, I was friends with a guy since we were 7 years old, but when he started getting into drugs I wouldn't have any part of it. I swear I have never done drugs, but I test positive for cocaine.......This is utter BS to the extreme. Their goes my damn future.

I decide to search around on Google, and I find all these sites saying how easy it can be to test positive for illegal drugs you have never taken. I could barely take it, because I know damn well my test results weren't accurate and the Army refuses to let me take the test again. They said I was out, even though the urinalysis has been proved to be wrong before, I found several cases where people had their lives screwed over because of inaccurate results. And the funny thing is that once you test positive, you are out. You lose your test scores for ASVAB, and you lose your job. You have to wait a year to try getting back in. This is outrageous, has anyone else had this happen to them with these drug tests? I have to get a Congressional before the Army will even think of overturning my dismissal, I am steaming mad right now. I really needed to rant, and I want to know if anyone else here has had this happen to them. Also, any suggestions you may have on how to get these guys to let me back in. They say the only chance I got is to get a Congressional.

[Grey Fox 0]

Wow that really sucks. Leave it to the paperwork part of the Army to screw up

[advocatexxx 0]

Did you eat anything with poppy seed ? Like a poppy seed danish or any other food that might have had poppy seeds ? Because it produces chemicals which easily cause drug tests to claim the person is using cocaine.

[Warin 0]

Wow. It sounds like you totally got shafted.

Have you contacted your congressman? Also, look into getting third party testing done. If you have on record test dates and results that show you are clean, I cant see that hurting your case.

I read a few articles about poppy seed bagels and muffins causing false positives for heroin in drug testing... so it's possible that it happens.

[Psycho1 0]

Right after they did that urinalysis test, they asked me if my social security number was blah-blah-blah and it wasn't mine, so I'm thinking that maybe they switched my test results with someone elses, they have several people do the test at once....so that will make my case easier to defend when I get in touch with my congressman.

[advocatexxx 0]

One thing I've learned is that any government-run organization/agency in USA is upside down. Ever been to the DMV office ? exactly. Ever been to the unemployment office ? exactly. Nobody ever cares about anything.

[PitViper 0]

Your last resort is your Congressmen.  If you are honest, you may get another shot.

Good Luck.

BTW, what MOS is that? 31 Fox?

I was a Uniform

If you get another shot, here ya go

http://www.gordon.army.mil/stt/stms/31f/

Did you try for 74B?  That's a little bit more related with computers.

[Psycho1 0]

Yeah, it was 31 Foxtrot. I really loved having everything planned...I was going to Fort Jackson for basic training, then to Fort Gordon for AIT.....then I get that news from my recruiter that I'm dismissed from the Army. I'm gonna try my best to get this overturned.

[ralphwiggum 6]

that sucks big time man....

from your story, seems like they mixed results with other person. hopefully if they clear it out, then you might get a chance again.

my suggestion is that you respond in very professional manner. whining is a big no no. bitching won't help either. be honest, show how much you want to join the ranks.

if all fails(even congressman), think of bypass. like ROTC.

[Aaron Kane 0]

*sigh*

I never should have done LSD... if only I knew the facts! WHY WASNT I PROVIDED AN INFORMATIONAL PAMPHLET!!!

[Oligo 1]

I work in a lab, which develops all sorts of assays for detecting all sorts of things. And I KNOW how unreliable those things are. Did you know that in order to get an in vitro diagnostic test (like a drug test) approved for use, it only has to show less than X % of false negatives and Y % of false positives? That means that it is ok for them to give SOME false results as long as they give MOSTLY correct results.

This is the reason I am against mandatory drug testing. If you get a false positive, you're fucked and nobody believes you. Tough.

[Warin 0]

That's obscene, Oligo.

In most cases the fact you are taking a drug test means that it's fairly serious. And for a test to have any appreciable level of false positives is just mind blowingly wrong!

Is there any way for Psycho1 to find out the test used, and then look into the rate of false positives?

[Oligo 1]

We couldn't test anything if a test had to always give a correct answer. Such a test would be impossible to make, because people are so different from each other, thus making the sample pool very heterogenous. That is precisely the reason why we should not test such things as drug use, because of the serious impact of the false positive results. If you test positive and say you didn't do it, everybody is merely going to think that you're a lying junkie, because you probably are, but not necessarily.

I don't know how hard it is to pry the identity of the test used by the army in question. However, if the identity is established, then it is possible that the manufacturer of the kit has published the performance evaluation of the test.

However, I doubt that anything can be done for the poor soul who started this thread. Positive results from drug tests are so stigmatizing that such conventional establishments as armies will shit bricks over them. I'm sorry, but it seems Psycho 1 is FUBARed.

[BlackDeath-CFH 1]

those energy drinks like red bull, have something in them that is found in crack, and since crack is just cocain with bakeing soda... that could be why.

edit: buty im sure they could only trace it if you drink alot of em

[kegetys 2]

I hope that would happen to be so I would not have to go do my military service

[Psycho1 0]

You wouldn't believe what you have to go through to get this overturned. If the investigation finds that proper procedures were not followed by MEPS(place where I took the tests), they are forced to recall everyone who took that urinalysis that day and have them do the test again. Now I know why they are very reluctant to do so........but I'm not going to let this go because I know the test results were wrong for whatever reason.

[ralphwiggum 6]

that is NOT AN AMERICAN WAY!

you know you are clean? then don't give up!

i know this is hard, but think it as a hurdle that you must overcome once in a lifetime.

my best wishes!

[Mister Frag 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (advocatexxx @ June 19 2002,18:00)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Did you eat anything with poppy seed ?  Like a poppy seed danish or any other food that might have had poppy seeds ? Because it produces chemicals which easily cause drug tests to claim the person is using cocaine.<span id='postcolor'>

You are confusing opium with cocaine. Poppy seeds can cause a false positive test for opium, but not cocaine.

[second_draw 0]

As i have just watched a movie which involves conspiracies and cover-ups as the major (if somewhat lacking) plot, and i therefore ban myself from this thread before i make any comment which goes on the lines of a conspiracy and/or cover-ups.

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds!!!

/me dances

[PitViper 0]

Oligo

I thought drug testing biased toward false negatives rather than false positives for the benefit of the tester. You are saying they bias towards false positives? that's messed up!!

[WKK Gimbal 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Espectro @ June 21 2002,14:07)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds!!!

/me dances<span id='postcolor'>

far out man!

btw, since the army has made tests with LSD on soldiers, should the army not expell itself for violating it's own rules?

(i.e. the self-destruct paradox)

[Hilandor 1]

is it possible u did have cocain in your system, if a go out drinking and that its very possible that someone has spiked you (spiked = stuck a drug in ur drink) although i do beleive that cocain does not stay in the system long so it would have to be a recent time it hapened

[Psycho1 0]

The test can only detect cocaine for 3-4 days after you use it........I can only imagine the amount of cocaine users who just stop using it for a week to get in the Army. The actual drug users get in, and the clean people get busted for whatever reason.

I don't take any prescription drugs, haven't eaten at a fast food place for about a month(you never know what they put in your sandwich). I'm not going to give up on this, I know it's a false-positive.

[Oligo 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (PitViper @ June 21 2002,16:22)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I thought drug testing biased toward false negatives rather than false positives for the benefit of the tester.  You are saying they bias towards false positives?  that's messed up!!

<span id='postcolor'>

All tests have a rate for false positives and false negatives. Although cut-off values for drug tests are designed for a minimum of false positives (thus you get a lot of false negatives), that doesn't mean that false positives do not happen.

An example: You all know such an old old test as measuring fever with a temperature sensor. We all also know that all sort of "tricks" can be used to heat it up in order to produce a false positive result for fever. Excluding any tricks, you can still get a false positive result. We had this geezer in the army whose natural body temperature was 38 degrees Celcius. So anytime he wanted to avoid some unpleasant exercises he could go to the hospital and whine that he has fever. The cut-off value for fever, 37 degrees Celcius, has been decided by measuring the normal temperature of a sample of population. But perfectly normal individuals exist, whose natural temperature is higher than this. Statistics of averages fail us from time to time, it seems.

Psycho1: Are you on any anti-depressant medication or such? Some medicines can give false positives in drug tests, because some medicines are nothing but arguably more benign versions of illegal drugs. If you pop any pills prescribed by a doctor, I suggest you inform the army of that and ask whether that can affect the results.