While not accepted as evidence at trial in most jurisdictions, presumptive field drug tests are routinely used as a plea bargaining tool against arrested persons.
Further, the majority of crime labs do not submit evidence for laboratory testing when the defendant pleads guilty. The Houston Crime Lab has committed to a policy of doing just that, though the priority level is lower than pending cases and thus takes more time, potentially years. The efforts have resulted in uncovering false-positive field test results in more than 200 cases between about 2004 and 2015.
Felony convictions can mean the loss of some measure of freedom, civil rights, fewer opportunities to housing, jobs to support themselves and their families, education and training, and more.
The New York Times article below details the use and inherent weaknesses in reliance on field drug testing to obtain drug convictions, as well as the story of a woman who pled guilty at her first court appearance, served her felony sentence in less than a month, and then struggled for years, when the evidence seized in her case was found to be “N.C.S.” – or, Not a Controlled Substance:
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