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War on Drugs

Police Drug Tests Are Notoriously Unreliable. They Got This Man Wrongly Charged With Trafficking Fentanyl.

Roughly 30,000 people every year may be getting wrongfully arrested because of unreliable field drug tests, according to one estimate.

C.J. Ciaramella | Coming: From the April 2026 issue


A screenshot from a police body camera video showing a suspect standing in handcuffs and an officer's hand holding a field drug test kit in the foreground | Police body camera footage
(Police body camera footage)

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C.J. Ciaramella is a reporter at Reason.

War on DrugsDrugsPrescription DrugsSouth CarolinaFentanylPolice AbusePoliceLaw enforcementDrug TestingCourts