California bill would limit use of roadside drug test
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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The California State Senate Public Safety Committee passed a bill Tuesday that will require law enforcement to use more accurate and objective drug testing. Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who introduced Senate Bill 912, said, “It’s absurd that in 2024, we continue to allow law enforcement to arrest, prosecute, convict, and sentence people based on drug tests that are known to be inaccurate.”
Every year, color-based (colorimetric) drug testing causes around 4,100 people statewide to be wrongfully arrested and charged, according to the senator’s office. The bill, which passed the committee 4-1, will essentially stop agencies from making arrests or filing charges based on the colorimetric tests.
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Some areas use these tests to assess whether a substance contains illegal drugs, but officials said many agencies across the state have already abandoned them due to being inaccurate.
SB 912 does not ban the use of the tests completely, but it does prevent officers and prosecutors from using them as the basis of an arrest or charging decision — at least without verifying the results with a more accurate test.
A recent study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, according to the senator’s office, showed color-based testing nationwide leads to about 30,000 wrongful convictions each year.
The bill will now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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