Oh man ! this sucks! he needs to talk to someone right away! Make a call and find out about paying for a private test where there is no chance he does anything to the test - the sooner the better so they cannot say it is out of his system ..... I would start by calling a local lab (like Quest) and or a private doctor

Have him request a hair analysis. That will test if he has used any drugs, as a way to back up his claim that he's clean. Thy won't want to do it because it costs a lot more, but it's a way he can prove he didn't tamper with the sample. If they don't want to do a hair analysis, as Advocate suggested he can offer to take another one.

Aah2009,

This incident is one of the major reasons many inmates do not like halfway houses; they are very picky there, much more than prison. Many guys see halfway houses as a way to "trick their time off." I agree.

Of course, sometimes the inmate does not have a choice.

Yes, if they feel the urine is too dilute their reasoning is that he drank a lot of water to beat the UA.

A diluted urine test considered as a positive is one of the "gotchas" they use on people at halfway houses and even on paper time.

Was this a random UA----urinalysis? If so, how would he know when to drink enough fluids to beat the test???

You said, " I'm not sure how they can say there was anything present if his specimen was too dilute to test."

They are not saying amphetamines or narcotics were present in his system, but they are saying they would have been present if he had not diluted his urine.

When I was in prison, I know a few inmates who experienced this, but in prison, they did not usually receive a write up unless there were at least two consecutive UA in which the urine was too dilute to test.

How much water or fluids are too much?? Nobody seems to know.

The more sophisticated UAs will also test the creatinine levels of the kidneys. If the creatinine level is too low, they assumed the sample was diluted intentionally by excessive fluid intake in an attempt to beat the test.

They determine how dilute a urine sample is by measuring its specific gravity. The specific gravity is actually related to the viscosity of a liquid. For example, the specific gravity of tomato juice is higher than that of plain water, since tomato juice is thicker than water. The specific gravity of water is 1.000, while the specific gravity of normal urine is 1.005-1.030. The higher specific gravity of normal urine is because the toxic chemicals being excreted in the urine are present, including creatinine.

If the specific gravity falls toward a value of 1.000, then they suspect a urine sample which has been tainted by an excessive fluid intake. The specific gravity of urine should never be less than 1.000 unless there is kidney disease present.

So they know his urine is diluted by the low creatinine and specific gravity values. They have measured the urine and they have found it to be diluted.

Here is some info by a guy who actually works in a lab that does UAs---

"" "I work at a drug lab, and vow is right; not only do we check incoming samples for specific gravity, but we also check for creatine (a substance created by the body's muscle processes). If either measurement is closer to water than urine, then the sample was diluted or tampered in some way.

Ever wonder how those kits claiming to help you pass drug tests (such as Urine Luck) "work"? Well the instructions on these kits tell you to drink lots of water after consuming the contents of the kit. The contents don't do anything; the heavy drinking of water helps dilute the urine. That's why drug labs measure specific gravity and creatine levels.
Don't feel too bad about this. When I took a drug test for my current job, I couldn't urinate at first and had to drink a 20 oz. soda. I passed the test, but a manager years later pointed that had been a risky thing to do."

Here is a youtube video from a lab tech, who says about the same thing I am trying to say----

http://tinyurl.com/gv6g5ul

You asked, " You asked, " Is there something he can do?"

Year ago, a person could acidfy their urine with cranberry juice or large doses of aspirin, but today the technology of drug testing is so advanced that those methods are no longer successful..

You said, " Is it time to find a lawyer (who is willing to work for little or no pay."

The only type of lawyer you could find that would take a case like this is one who just wants to take your money. Unless there is an egregious civil rights violation, legitimate attorneys will not get involved in DOC matters.

His best bet is to ask to be retested. If he can get a retest, lay off the water, which will enable him to pass with flying colors. Laying off the water will push his specific gravity higher and he will pass.

DO NOT let your husband lose hope and you should not either. See if he can get a retest. Talk to the case manager. He can start filing paper work to appeal this test. He has to go up the ladder with the chain of command, but he can file appeals all the way to the state DOC office. If they will not retest him, he needs to appeal. At the least, an appeal might force them to do a retest.

In the Oklahoma prison system, I know of guys who appealed UAs all the way to the head DOC office in Oklahoma City and won---or at least got a retest.

This is not the end of the world even if they do not relent and refuse to test him again. Hang in there. These kinds of tricks and foolishness is just one of many examples where the prison system is very unfair.

BTW, what state is this in???

rewdiazepam

This is taking place in Missouri. His UA was random and he submitted right away (he was able to pee right away). This was Friday and he was noticed yesterday. He has a quart size water bottle that he drinks out of throughout the day. He refills it at least 3 maybe 4 times a day. I'm just angry that he's automatically assumed to have done something wrong (and so is he). I will tell him to insist on a retest and to appeal the original result.

Thanks rew for your thoughts, advice, and encouragement. I am so glad this group exists it has been a great help.

I should also mention that my husband's case is federal.

Does your husband have a medical condition that requires him to drink so much water like diabetes or chronic dehydration?

Or Kidney function issues that require additional water intake to force the kidneys to work? Unless he is drinking so much water every day for the heck of it, he might want to think about seeing a doctor about this.

My guy's first test came back as diluted as well, but they did not consider it a fail. They switched to mouth swatch samples after that, and it was never an issue again. My guy drinks tons of water since we are active cyclists and runners, so it can be totally normal to have diluted urine. Also, if it was random test, he could have not possibly upped the water intake every day, just in case.

Well the disciplinary meeting for my husband was yesterday. All they did was refer it to a higher level board to make a decision about what happens next. My husband is very worried that he will be sent back to prison for something he didn't do. He said he would not go back if it came to that. I want to help him but like Rew mentioned it would be difficult to find an attorney who would be willing. His big thing is that he feels like he's being lied to by all of staff at the HW house and he's being railroaded. He saw the write-up of his UA and the level of dilution was very close to the minimum acceptable level. This week has been difficult. We feel like things are beginning to look up and then Bam! we are hit with another obstacle. It is getting tiring. We are pieces of trash getting tossed around.