What Are Texas Probation Drug Test Cutoff Levels?

Texas probation drug test cutoff levels follow the federal SAMHSA framework used by the certified labs that process community supervision samples: an initial urine screen reports a positive at 50 ng/mL for marijuana, 300 ng/mL for cocaine, 2,000 ng/mL for opiates, 1,000 ng/mL for amphetamines, and 25 ng/mL for PCP. Anything below those numbers comes back negative, even if trace amounts are present. A screen that hits the cutoff is not the end of the story, though. Before your probation officer treats the result as a violation, the lab runs a second, more precise confirmation test with its own set of thresholds.

Initial Screening Cutoffs

The first test a Texas community supervision lab runs on your urine is an immunoassay screen. It is fast, inexpensive, and designed to sort samples into “presumptive positive” or “negative.” Immunoassay reacts to broad drug classes rather than to a single molecule, which is why the cutoffs are set where they are: high enough to filter out incidental exposure, low enough to catch actual use.

  • Marijuana (THC metabolites): 50 ng/mL
  • Cocaine metabolites: 300 ng/mL
  • Opiates (codeine, morphine, heroin metabolites): 2,000 ng/mL
  • Amphetamines, including methamphetamine: 1,000 ng/mL
  • Phencyclidine (PCP): 25 ng/mL

The spread between substances is not arbitrary. PCP triggers at just 25 ng/mL because even small amounts point to intentional use. Opiates sit at 2,000 ng/mL partly because some foods and legal medications produce low-level opiate signals that would otherwise flood the system with false positives. If your sample lands below the threshold, it is reported as negative and your probation officer sees nothing.

Some Texas departments expand the panel to include benzodiazepines, barbiturates, methadone, or synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Each added substance carries its own screening cutoff. Your written conditions of supervision should list which substances are being tested.

Confirmation Test Cutoffs

A positive screen is not itself a violation. The lab must confirm the result with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) or liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) before reporting a confirmed positive back to your probation officer. These methods identify the exact metabolite and measure it precisely, so their cutoffs are usually lower than the screening cutoffs:

  • Marijuana (THC-COOH): 15 ng/mL
  • Cocaine (benzoylecgonine): 150 ng/mL
  • Opiates (codeine, morphine): 2,000 ng/mL
  • Amphetamine: 500 ng/mL
  • Methamphetamine: 500 ng/mL
  • PCP: 25 ng/mL

The marijuana numbers cause the most confusion. The screen requires 50 ng/mL to trip, but the confirmation only needs 15 ng/mL to lock the result in. That works because the confirmation instrument is looking for one specific metabolite rather than reacting to a broad chemical class. The screen casts a wide net; the confirmation narrows to the exact molecule. A sample that screens positive at 50 but confirms below 15 comes back negative.

This two-step process is what makes drug test results defensible at a revocation hearing. A result confirmed by GC-MS carries substantially more weight than an unconfirmed immunoassay screen, and attorneys defending a probationer focus hard on whether confirmation was actually done.

How Long Each Substance Stays Detectable

Cutoffs tell you what concentration triggers a positive. Detection windows tell you how long a drug stays in your urine at concentrations above the cutoff. Both matter, because a positive from use that predates your supervision still shows up on the report.

  • Marijuana: 1 to 45 days, depending heavily on how often you used. A single use may clear in a few days; daily long-term use can stay detectable for weeks.
  • Cocaine: 1 to 2 days for most users, slightly longer with heavy use.
  • Opiates (codeine, morphine): 1 to 3 days.
  • Amphetamines: 1 to 7 days.
  • PCP: 1 to 7 days, longer with chronic use.

Marijuana is the outlier. THC metabolites are fat-soluble, meaning they store in body tissue and release slowly over time. Someone who used regularly before being placed on supervision can test positive weeks into their probation term without any new use. That reality does not automatically excuse a positive result, but it is a point your attorney can raise at a hearing.

Prescription Medications and Positive Results

Legitimate prescriptions for opioid painkillers, benzodiazepines, or stimulants like Adderall will often push a sample past the cutoff. A positive for a substance you are legally prescribed is not a violation, but only if your probation officer knew about the prescription before the test. Producing a pill bottle after the results come back looks like an excuse, and probation officers are trained to watch for that pattern.

Disclose every prescription as soon as it is written. Provide pharmacy records and prescriber documentation, and sign a medical release so your officer can verify the prescription directly with the doctor. Some departments keep a formal medication log with the drug name, dosage, prescribing date, and reason for use. If your officer has concerns about a particular script, they may ask you to request a non-controlled alternative from your doctor.

A few overlaps come up often. Both heroin and prescription codeine metabolize into morphine, so the test alone cannot always tell legal use from illegal use. Prescription amphetamines used for ADHD can produce the same metabolites as methamphetamine on some assays. In rare cases cocaine appears in a sample because it was used as a local anesthetic during a medical procedure. In each of these scenarios, documented disclosure before the test is what separates a defensible explanation from a violation report.

Dilute Samples

A dilute result means your urine’s specific gravity or creatinine level fell below normal validity thresholds, making the drug test unreliable in either direction. Dilution can happen innocently from drinking a lot of water before a test, or it can signal an attempt to flush metabolites below the cutoff.

Handling varies by department and judge. Some CSCDs simply schedule another collection. Others treat repeated dilute results as a violation on the theory that the pattern suggests manipulation. From a legal standpoint, a dilute specimen that does not test positive for any substance is weak evidence of a violation, because the state has no proof of what caused the dilution or that any drug was present. If your probation department tries to sanction you for a dilute-negative result, raise it with your attorney.

Challenging a Confirmed Positive

A confirmed positive is strong evidence, but it is not unchallengeable. Several defenses come up regularly in Texas revocation hearings:

  • No confirmation test. If the lab reported a positive based only on the immunoassay screen, without GC-MS or LC-MS/MS confirmation, the result is scientifically unreliable. Immunoassay screens produce false positives because they react to entire chemical classes rather than specific metabolites.
  • Chain of custody problems. The sample must be properly collected, labeled, sealed, stored, and transported. Any gap in that documentation creates a basis for challenging the result.
  • Pre-supervision use. A positive does not prove when the substance was used. Marijuana in particular can stay detectable for weeks. If your supervision began recently, the positive may reflect use that predated probation.
  • Documented prescription. A valid prescription disclosed to your officer before the test undercuts the violation. Pharmacy records and physician verification are the key evidence.

Texas law also prohibits a court from revoking community supervision based solely on the uncorroborated results of a polygraph examination, so a failed polygraph about drug use cannot substitute for an actual positive drug test.1State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art 42A.751 – Modification or Revocation of Community Supervision

What Happens After a Confirmed Positive

Drug testing as a condition of community supervision is authorized by Article 42A.301 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which lets a judge require any probationer to submit to testing for alcohol or controlled substances.2State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.301 – Basic Conditions of Community Supervision A confirmed positive under that condition does not send you straight to prison, but it starts a process that can.

Graduated Sanctions

Texas judges are authorized to respond to violations with graduated measures rather than jumping to revocation. Under Article 42A.752, a failed drug test can bring increased reporting, more frequent testing, mandatory substance abuse counseling, community service, or an extension of the supervision term. For more serious or repeated violations, the judge can order short-term jail sanctions of up to 180 days for a felony or up to 30 days for a misdemeanor, all without revoking your probation.

Many Texas CSCDs treat this as a structured ladder. A first failed test might mean increased testing and a treatment referral. A second or third moves toward a short jail sanction or a motion to revoke. Specifics vary by county and judge, but the graduated approach is standard across most Texas jurisdictions.

Motion to Revoke

When graduated sanctions are no longer on the table, the state files a motion to revoke community supervision under Article 42A.751. The judge holds a hearing without a jury, and the state must prove the violation by a preponderance of the evidence, a lower standard than “beyond a reasonable doubt.”1State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art 42A.751 – Modification or Revocation of Community Supervision The state only has to show that a violation more likely than not occurred.

If the judge finds a violation, what happens next depends on the type of supervision you were on:

  • Regular community supervision. The judge may revoke probation and impose any sentence that could have been imposed at the original sentencing, up to the statutory maximum for the offense. The judge can also continue supervision with modified conditions.
  • Deferred adjudication. The judge enters a finding of guilt (the conviction that was deferred) and may impose any sentence within the full punishment range for the offense. Revocation converts deferred adjudication into a conviction with the same exposure as if you had been found guilty at trial.

You have the right to counsel at a revocation hearing, and the court must appoint an attorney if you cannot afford one. If you are arrested on a warrant for the alleged violation, you are entitled to a hearing within 20 days of filing a motion requesting one.

When repeated failed tests point to an ongoing substance use problem, judges commonly order outpatient counseling, intensive outpatient programs, or residential treatment as a condition of continued supervision. A genuine effort to engage with treatment can influence how a judge responds to future violations. Refusing or failing to complete court-ordered treatment adds another basis for revocation.