Does CPS have probable cause for drug testing, or is this harrassment?

T

Tigershark

New Member
Jurisdiction
Michigan
My wife was prescribed ambien to help her sleep and has been on it for around 6 years without any issues. We have 4 children in our home, ages 2, 13, 15, and 17. The 2yr old is our nephew that we've had since he was 2 weeks old. Well last Saturday night while I was at work my wife laid the baby down and then took her sleep medication and went to sleep. Soon after he woke up with a soiled diaper and was crying so my wife woke and took him downstairs to change him. I guess she changed him and then packed him a diaper bag complete with 2 cups of milk for the road. She was in a ambein sleep walk and so she put him in the van buckled him in his carseat and drove to a rest area in Ohio about 90miles from home. My older children called me at work and told me mom was gone and they think she was on her medicine. I left work and searched all over our town and had no luck finding her. I decided to call the police to help us find them, I was truly terrified of what could happen. Hours passed no luck finding them. The police tried to ping her phone but had no luck because it was dead. Well my 13yr old told me to download some child GPS tracking app on my phone and that's how we ended up finding her. We jumped in the car and drove down to get them and about 15min before we arrived she called me crying not knowing where she was or why her and the baby were in the car. I had her stay put and my oldest and I drove them home. Well about 8hrs later the same sheriff I made the report with to help find her shows up to do a welfare check. I let him in and he seen the baby and talked to my wife. Then CPS showed up because the sheriff reported it as a neglect case. After the initial interview the CPS worker said well it dosent sound like he was neglected. He was in danger because you were on the ambein but not neglected. We told her that the next morning we were going to the DR. to change her medication. So the ambein got changed and the Dr. Even wrote a letter stating that this was a adverse reaction to the ambein and that we gave him the remaining script to be destroyed. The CPS worker told us that they decided to continue with the investigation and would be coming the following Friday for a home inspection and to interview children. So everything went smoothly and she told us we should have no problem getting legal guardianship for the baby. Then she asked my wife if she would be willing to take a drug test. My wife told her if this is mandatory I'll do it but if you're asking me to volunteer to do a drug test my attorney advises me not to volunteer anything. So she told us that she wasn't going to even record that she asked my wife about a drug test. She said the next time we see her it will be for a exit interview and probably a drug test. My wife refused because she'll test positive for THC. The new medicine isn't working so her brother had her try some medical marijuana and it worked. Neither my wife nor I have any criminal history, or drug history. So what should we do? We are going on vacation this week so that buys us some time but does CPS have probable cause to force her to drug test? We have family in different states, should I send her away until she cleans her system for a "family emergency"? Need some help and guidance please and thank you.
 
Tigershark said:
My wife was prescribed ambien to help her sleep and has been on it for around 6 years without any issues. We have 4 children in our home, ages 2, 13, 15, and 17. The 2yr old is our nephew that we've had since he was 2 weeks old. Well last Saturday night while I was at work my wife laid the baby down and then took her sleep medication and went to sleep. Soon after he woke up with a soiled diaper and was crying so my wife woke and took him downstairs to change him. I guess she changed him and then packed him a diaper bag complete with 2 cups of milk for the road. She was in a ambein sleep walk and so she put him in the van buckled him in his carseat and drove to a rest area in Ohio about 90miles from home. My older children called me at work and told me mom was gone and they think she was on her medicine. I left work and searched all over our town and had no luck finding her. I decided to call the police to help us find them, I was truly terrified of what could happen. Hours passed no luck finding them. The police tried to ping her phone but had no luck because it was dead. Well my 13yr old told me to download some child GPS tracking app on my phone and that's how we ended up finding her. We jumped in the car and drove down to get them and about 15min before we arrived she called me crying not knowing where she was or why her and the baby were in the car. I had her stay put and my oldest and I drove them home. Well about 8hrs later the same sheriff I made the report with to help find her shows up to do a welfare check. I let him in and he seen the baby and talked to my wife. Then CPS showed up because the sheriff reported it as a neglect case. After the initial interview the CPS worker said well it dosent sound like he was neglected. He was in danger because you were on the ambein but not neglected. We told her that the next morning we were going to the DR. to change her medication. So the ambein got changed and the Dr. Even wrote a letter stating that this was a adverse reaction to the ambein and that we gave him the remaining script to be destroyed. The CPS worker told us that they decided to continue with the investigation and would be coming the following Friday for a home inspection and to interview children. So everything went smoothly and she told us we should have no problem getting legal guardianship for the baby. Then she asked my wife if she would be willing to take a drug test. My wife told her if this is mandatory I'll do it but if you're asking me to volunteer to do a drug test my attorney advises me not to volunteer anything. So she told us that she wasn't going to even record that she asked my wife about a drug test. She said the next time we see her it will be for a exit interview and probably a drug test. My wife refused because she'll test positive for THC. The new medicine isn't working so her brother had her try some medical marijuana and it worked. Neither my wife nor I have any criminal history, or drug history. So what should we do? We are going on vacation this week so that buys us some time but does CPS have probable cause to force her to drug test? We have family in different states, should I send her away until she cleans her system for a "family emergency"? Need some help and guidance please and thank you.
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CPS could get a court order for her to take a drug test.

You do what you think is best - but your wife probably does need to go to rehab or counseling or something. She needs some help. If medical marijuana isn't legal in your state, she shouldn't even be using it at all. Even if it was - I bet it's still illegal to use someone else's.

Ultimately, you might want to talk to the lawyer you said your wife has.
 
leslie82 said:
CPS could get a court order for her to take a drug test.

You do what you think is best - but your wife probably does need to go to rehab or counseling or something. She needs some help. If medical marijuana isn't legal in your state, she shouldn't even be using it at all. Even if it was - I bet it's still illegal to use someone else's.

Ultimately, you might want to talk to the lawyer you said your wife has.
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Yes this is a green state, so if she had a medical marijuana card then it would be ok for her to have? Yeah, I'll definitely call our attorney this seems strange to me that you can just order drug testing on who ever you want without cause. So if someone was on blood pressure medication and it got out of whack and you passed out behind the wheel this would be a form of neglect? Thanks for responding quickly to my question. It actually seems more just to have me drug test since I must of been under the influence to think the police would help.
 
It is your wife's right to refuse.
If CPS wants to compel her to take a test it would require a court order, but obtaining a court order requires some significant circumstances that don't seem to exist here.
In your case, it may be that CPS is unable to obtain such an order.
This matter seems to have been sufficiently resolved with a follow up visit to the doctor.

I don't believe CPS is involved for neglect, but rather for endangerment- driving with the child while under the influence of the medication. If there is no history of this happening and no reason to expect it to continue, CPS should wrap this up and leave you alone.

No matter what COS tells you, she is but rewired to take a drug test. If the time comes that it is required you will know because a judge will be ordering it. It seems unlikely based in the info you have provided. Simply give the same response as last time about refusing all searches under advise of counsel.
 
mightymoose said:
It is your wife's right to refuse.
If CPS wants to compel her to take a test it would require a court order, but obtaining a court order requires some significant circumstances that don't seem to exist here.
In your case, it may be that CPS is unable to obtain such an order.
This matter seems to have been sufficiently resolved with a follow up visit to the doctor.

I don't believe CPS is involved for neglect, but rather for endangerment- driving with the child while under the influence of the medication. If there is no history of this happening and no reason to expect it to continue, CPS should wrap this up and leave you alone.

No matter what COS tells you, she is but rewired to take a drug test. If the time comes that it is required you will know because a judge will be ordering it. It seems unlikely based in the info you have provided. Simply give the same response as last time about refusing all searches under advise of counsel.
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Thank you for the information. We asked CPS if it was alright if we went on vacation. They told us that of course it is alright. Well we are avid campers and so looks like vacation will be a little longer this year. Fishing, campfires and family bonding! The service is horrible in the Upper Peninsula of michigan, this will be a great chance to unwind and let the world slow down a bit back to a simpler time.
 
Tigershark said:
Yes this is a green state, so if she had a medical marijuana card then it would be ok for her to have? Yeah, I'll definitely call our attorney this seems strange to me that you can just order drug testing on who ever you want without cause. So if someone was on blood pressure medication and it got out of whack and you passed out behind the wheel this would be a form of neglect? Thanks for responding quickly to my question. It actually seems more just to have me drug test since I must of been under the influence to think the police would help.
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Nothing you said makes any sense at all. If someone gets into a car accident, they will drug test them and probably look into their medical history to see if they were on any prescription medication while investigating it. Blood pressure medication and Ambien aren't remotely the same thing at all.
 
Drug/blood tests are not automatic in accident investigations. Same as above, a person has the right to refuse and the police must obtain a warrant if they think they have sufficient reason to suspect a person is under the influence.
 
It is never in anyone's best interest to engage CPS, just as it wouldn't be in anyone's best interest as a suspect of a criminal act to talk to the police.

Everyone in this country has the RIGHT to remain silent.

I urge all to use that right, as well as the others our founders created to protect us.
 
Your wife just threw up a whole lot of red flags. The fact that she resorted to an illegal drug to help her sleep (as opposed to asking her doctor for something else legal, taking an OTC sleep aid, etc.) could very well be a problem. Marijuana can be detectable for up to 6 months after use. Your "vacation" is not going to accomplish much. It was incredibly, beyond stupid to use an illegal drug WHILE THERE WAS AN ACTIVE CPS CASE and pending guardianship of that child at stake. Geez, Louise, I can't even begin to fathom what she was thinking or why she thought NOW was the best time to dabble in controlled substances IF she had been truly clean as a whistle up until this point in her life. CPS is going to have a really hard time buying that as well. Your best bet is to listen to your attorney and cross your fingers that CPS decides not to bother compelling a drug test. I'm not loving your odds as drug tests are pretty routinely ordered and especially in a case where some substance played a role in the case, but you might luck out. Whatever you do, don't decide that this vacation would be a great time to catch a Grateful Dead concert.
 

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