LE Drug Testing Issues at the NJ State Toxicology Lab
Please see the below message sent on behalf of the AAG Joe Walsh
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Good morning Chiefs -
The Office of the Attorney General has been advised by the N.J State Toxicology Lab in Newark of several recurring issues with submissions of urine specimens pursuant to the AG’s Law Enforcement Drug Testing Program.
The Policy, last revised in February 2023, may be found here:
https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/njpdresources/pdfs/Law-Enforcement-Drug-Testing-Policy_rev-Feb-2023.pdf
The problems the Lab is dealing with are:
- Some agencies continuing to utilize the pre-2023 Custody and Submission (CSF) Form, which makes reference to a 9-panel test. Beginning on October 1, 2023, the Lab stopped accepting urine specimens accompanied by the old CSF Form. An image of the “new” CSF Form is attached. Copies of the new CSF Form are available from the Lab in Newark along with test kits (which have not changed since February 2021).
- Agencies failing to seal the donor officer’s Medication Form in a sealed envelope, as required by Section IV.A of the Policy (see page 7). The Policy states, “The Drug Testing Medication Information form shall be placed in an envelope which is sealed by the donor. The donor shall date and initial the seal, and write their unique identifier (Donor ID) on the envelope.”
- Agencies having donor officers (or monitors) put names and/or social security numbers on either CSF Forms or Medication Forms. Submissions of specimens to the Lab shall not identify the donor officer by any means other than the Donor ID number generated on the CSF Form.
Please be sure to strictly comply with the provisions of the LE Drug Testing Policy. Deviations may result in rejection of the urine samples by the Lab.
Should you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Have a great holiday season.
Joe
Joseph F. Walsh, AAG
Office of Public Integrity and Accountability
N.J. Office of the Attorney General
25 Market Street-P.O. Box 085
Trenton, NJ 08625-0085
609-376-2448
walshj@njdcj.org
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