How to Pass a Probation Urine Test

• In Event: Innovative Programming and Analysis within Community Corrections

Abstract

Urine testing is a critical component of the “disciplinary power” wielded by community correctional officers. Purporting to reveal the buried truths of individual drug use, urinalysis functions as both a technology of deterrence and an indicator of transgression. This qualitative study seeks to explore and understand drug users’ resistance strategies to drug testing. The researchers collected, coded, and analyzed uploads to online video sharing sites and drug forum discussion boards, focusing on how to pass a probation urine test. Specifically, 75 video uploads and the first 75 comments on each video (totaling 5,625 comments) and 50 drug forum postings and 50 discussion threads on each posting (totaling 2,500 threads) were catalogued, coded and analyzed.
Although resistance strategies fell into one of four categories (abstinence, dilution, ingestion or substitution), many drug users advocated for the adoption of multiple resistance strategies to evade detection. The presentation will discuss the most popular and successful resistance strategies, as well as promoted strategies that are potentially harmful (bleach drinking and niacin overdose).

Authors

• Amanda Novo, University of New Haven

• Kevin Barnes-Ceeney, University of New Haven

• Dominique Virgulto, University of New Haven