When a person is on probation or parole as result of a conviction for some type of drug charge part a condition of that person’s supervision will be that they not take illegal drugs. Not an unreasonable request, right? It has been my experience when dealing with Montgomery County probation violations that the vast majority of those that violate their probation do it because they have submitted a urine sample that has illegal drugs in it, be in codeine, cocaine, marijuana, whatever. This is called a “hot urine” and it will get you violated by your probation or parole officer almost every time.
As a Montgomery County criminal lawyer, I’ve seen this scenario play out literally hundreds of time. The girlfriend calls me because her boyfriend has been detained on a probation violation. Reason: hot urine. That said, probation officers will often let one hot urine slide if the person they are supervising has never submitted one before or if they feel the person just slipped up in an otherwise earnest attempt to stay clean. But the stark reality is that people that are convicted of drug violations often have drug problems and people with drug problems usually have a hard time staying clean.
If you or a loved one have have violated probation in Pa. due to the submission of a hot urine or for any other reason, you can contact my office to speak to an experienced Montgomery County Drug Lawyer for a free consultation on how to handle an probation issue.