Evidence won’t deter use of patch in drug testing

Greg Tuttle

Friday, Dec. 1, 2000 | 10:02 a.m.

A new drug testing method used by federal probation officials will continue to be used in Southern Nevada despite evidence the test may be flawed.

The drug testing method, which uses an arm patch similar to nicotine patches worn by people trying to stop smoking, was at the center of a hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court, where attorneys argued whether the sweat patch could be contaminated and result in a false positive test.

Federal prosecutors argued a Las Vegas woman, Marsha McLemore, violated her probation by using drugs and should be sentenced to six months in prison. The allegation of drug use was based on 20 positive sweat patch tests since June 1998.

But U.S. Public Defender Franny Forsman said McLemore tested negative for drugs on more than 100 urine tests during the same period. Forsman argued not enough testing has been done to determine whether the sweat patch can produce a false positive test.

The hearing ended when Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Sullivan withdrew the motion against McLemore following testimony from an executive of the company that manufactures the sweat patch.

The sweat patch was developed in the early 1990's and is now used across the nation by federal probation officials. A federal judge in Las Vegas ruled last year the sweat patch is an accurate test for determining drug use and is equivalent to urine testing.

Federal probation officials in Las Vegas have been using the sweat patch since 1997.

At the hearing Thursday, James Meeker, an employee of PharmChem Inc. based in California, said the company recently conducted three informal tests to determine whether the sweat patch could be contaminated from the outside or pick up drug residue on the skin surface. While no reports were written explaining the test results, Meeker admitted under questioning by Forsman that even a small amount of cocaine placed on the skin resulted in a positive test.

PharmChem recently contracted with a company in Utah to conduct further tests on the sweat patch, Meeker said.

Despite the company's own internal test results, Meeker said he believes the sweat patch is an accurate method of testing for drug use.

Forsman agreed that the sweat patch is an effective method of detecting drug use, but she argued more testing on the patch should be done to determine whether people could be wrongly charged with using drugs and face jail time based on false positive test results.

In McLemore's case, Forsman said she lived for a time in an apartment that had previously been occupied by a suspected drug user. Several people testified Thursday that the 42-year-old McLemore kept a clean home and did not appear to be under the influence of drugs while working as a caregiver and cook.

McLemore was sentenced to 18 months in a federal prison in 1996 after pleading guilty to money laundering and drug trafficking charges. After her release she was placed on three years of supervision.

Tom Collins, the deputy chief probation officer in Las Vegas, said after the hearing Thursday that federal probation officers would continue to use the sweat patch.

"Our plan would be to continue to use it," he said.

Forsman said the agency should reconsider its use of the drug testing method.

"I would hope that the administrator of the courts or at least the local probation office would rethink relying on the sweat patch to put someone in jail," she said.