A drug test that costs just $2 and often produces false positives has routinely been used by police officers and prosecutors to lock up suspected drug users, according to a report. ProPublica found that many police officers simply misinterpret the “ambiguous” instructions for the drug test, often leading to false positives. Specifically, ProPublica confirmed that several major cities accept guilty plea deals on the sole basis of the flawed drug tests: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle and Tampa.
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