Judges have many ways of explaining what probation is.  In Georgia, probation is not really a stand-alone status.  A Georgia sentence, on paper, is a term of incarceration, which the judge allows the person to serve on probation.  With probation comes conditions.  There are general conditions which apply to all probationers, and there may be special conditions which are particular to the individual case.  Many Georgia probation sentences are conditioned upon agreement to a waiver of Fourth Amendment rights, your protection against unreasonable search and seizure.  The Fourth Amendment waiver  allows for random drug and alcohol screens while the person is under probation. 

Probation can request a screen with or without a reason.  With accountability court programs (drug court, DUI court, etc.), it may be a random scheduled thing.  You might be assigned a color and be required to call in on some schedule to see what the color of the day is.  If it is your color, then you have to go do the screen.  

The most typical screening methods will be urine screening or breath testing. Breath testing only allows for detection of drinking alcohol.  Urine screening can be used for alcohol and drugs. Almost all urine testing schemes also test for creatinine levels as a way of detecting diluted samples.  Diluted samples means over-consumption of water in order to reduce the chance of a drug being detected.  Some programs will use some type of thermometer to test the sample to try to detect fraudulent samples.  

It is extremely important for a probationer to familiarize themselves with the conditions that apply to them, from the sentence and from any accountability court participant manual.

At the time of a screen, the probationer should submit to the tester a list of any prescription and over-the-counter medications being taken.  They should also submit any supplements being taken.  The probationer should not take any medication, drug, or supplement that requires approval from probation without obtaining that approval.  Some of these substances can cause a false positive drug screen.  

Many programs may prohibit the consumption of a number of substances that are not illegal.  For instance, some prohibit use of energy drinks, fermented drinks.  Some accountability court manuals prohibit the use of vitamins and supplements without prior approval.  

Urine screens are not 100% reliable, but they are likely to be treated as such by probation.

A positive screen will likely subject you to some type of sanctions, including the possibility of having some part or all of the sentence revoked; that would mean serving time in prison or jail, depending on the level of the conviction offense.  

It is important for the tester to have a list of your medications or allowed drugs to address a possible positive result caused by that substance. the sample can be sent for confirmation testing which is more accurate, to either rule in or out the allowed medications.  

Almost all programs treat a dilute sample as a positive screen.  

A failure to show up for or to provide a drug test will be treated as a positive screen.  

If you know that you are likely to test positive on the drug or alcohol screen, it is almost always going to be in your interest to admit that before submitting to the test.  It does not mean that you will escape punishment, but it could reduce the punishment.  By the same token, if you test positive and you know that is likely accurate, it is not going to help your case to keep denying use.  If you deny use, confirmation testing can be done that will likely assure to the court that you broke the rules.