Can Probation or a Testing Bond Still Count a Positive Cannabis Test in Michigan?

A Michigan shop can sell you flower, and a probation drug test can still count. The order is the page that matters, including on a testing bond in Wayne County.

Yes. A positive cannabis test can still be a probation violation when the written order forbids it, and a testing bond can do the same when that box is checked. People v. Hess says a trial court may not prohibit use that follows Michigan's adult-use law solely because federal law still bans it. The Court left a tailored ban undecided.

By Jamie, grower at Divine Toke. Divine Toke is Sun+Earth Certified.

Can a Positive Cannabis Test Still Count on Michigan Probation? #

Yes. Michigan names a failed drug test as a technical probation violation, and a marijuana ban that rests only on federal law can't carry the violation by itself.

On July 6, 2026, the Michigan Supreme Court decided People v. Hess, docket 167895. The probation order banned marijuana and gave no reason. The person tested positive, and those results were charged as violations. The Court held that a trial court may not prohibit MRTMA-compliant marijuana use as a probation condition solely because such use violates federal law. It sent those violations back.

MRTMA means the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act. That's the adult-use law. "Compliant" means the use stays inside the lines in the next section. A positive cup from use that breaks those lines isn't the Hess fact pattern.

The State Court Administrative Office told Michigan judges on July 8, 2026 to read that holding. The memo also says the Court didn't decide when a judge may still forbid that use as a discretionary condition.

What's on the probation order	What a positive cannabis test can mean
The only story for the ban is that federal law still bans weed	Hess says that ban can't stand on that reason alone. The violations in that case went back to the trial court.
A separate condition tied to this person's risks	The Supreme Court left that question open under MCL 771.3(3).
The order requires a drug test	MCL 771.4b calls missing or failing a drug test a technical probation violation.

MCL 771.4 is the revocation section. You get a written copy of the charges and a hearing. The court can also hold you while that claim is pending. Revocation and jail after it "should be imposed only for repeated technical violations, for new criminal behavior, as otherwise allowed in section 4b," or if you ask for it.

A failed drug test sits in the technical group on purpose. MCL 771.4b(9)(b) says a technical probation violation includes "missing or failing a drug test," and it says that label sticks even though a violation of a United States law is listed outside the technical group. So the cup can be a violation of the order without the case having to call your flower a new federal crime.

The same section sets day caps when the court uses temporary jail for a technical violation:

Probation is for	First	Second	Third	After that
A misdemeanor	Not more than 5 days	Not more than 10 days	Not more than 15 days	Remaining eligible jail
A felony	Not more than 15 days	Not more than 30 days	Not more than 45 days	Remaining eligible jail or prison

Those caps are MCL 771.4b(1). They don't apply to probation for the domestic-violence and stalking offenses named in subsection (6). Subsection (4) says the court shall not revoke probation for a technical violation unless you were already sanctioned for 3 or more technical violations and then you pick up another one. That limit is written as subject to the subsection (6) exception.

There's also a rebuttable presumption of a summons or an order to show cause, instead of an arrest warrant, for a technical violation. The court can overcome it on the record for immediate danger, leaving court-ordered inpatient treatment without permission, or failing to appear after a summons already went out. That presumption sits in MCL 771.4b(7), and the court has to put its reason on the record.

You can be asked to sign a written acknowledgment of a technical violation, and MCL 771.4b(2) says that can happen without a hearing. Read it before you sign. Nothing on this page is a way to clear a cup.

Hess doesn't say every positive test in Michigan is void. It says a ban that exists only because federal law bans weed can't be the probation condition. A failed test under some other lawful line on the order is still the statute's technical violation. Wayne County doesn't get a softer version of 771.4b. The section is statewide.

What Does Adult-Use Law Make Lawful in Michigan? #

For an adult 21 or older, possessing, using, and buying 2.5 ounces or less isn't a Michigan crime, and not more than 15 grams of that can be concentrate.

MCL 333.27955 is the lawful-acts section. It says those acts by a person 21 or older aren't unlawful, aren't an offense, and aren't grounds for arrest, prosecution, or "penalty in any manner." They also aren't grounds to deny any other right or privilege. Section 4 of the act is the exception list. If section 4 forbids the act, section 5 doesn't cover it.

The same section draws the amounts:

• On you, or in a purchase: 2.5 ounces or less, and not more than 15 grams of that in concentrate.
• At your residence: not more than 10 ounces, plus what your own plants produced there, and not more than 12 plants on the premises at once.
• A gift: up to 2.5 ounces, same 15-gram concentrate cap, to another adult 21 or older, with no public ad for the handoff.

Hess uses the phrase "MRTMA-compliant" for use inside those lines. The opinion also quotes the purpose section. MCL 333.27952 says the intent is to prevent arrest and penalty for personal possession and cultivation by adults 21 or older, and it tells courts to read the act that way.

MCL 333.27954(5) says all other laws inconsistent with the act don't apply to conduct the act permits. That's the sentence Hess used against the probation statute's federal-law condition. The probation act is a Michigan law. Where it clashes with compliant adult use, the adult-use act controls. The Court was specific. The clash it decided is the automatic federal ban, not every line a judge might add later.

Section 4 still keeps some conduct outside the safe list. MCL 333.27954 doesn't authorize:

• Driving, or physically controlling a vehicle, boat, or off-road machine, while under the influence.
• Consuming while you're driving, or smoking in the passenger area of a vehicle on a public way.
• Anyone under 21 possessing, buying, or using it.
• Possessing or consuming it on school grounds where kids attend class, on a school bus, or on the grounds of a correctional facility.
• Consuming it in a public place, with the statute's own exception for a city-designated area that isn't open to people under 21.

A positive test after one of those acts isn't "compliant" use. Hess doesn't reach it. The drive home from a Detroit shop is its own statute, and the longer version is in blood THC versus impairment.

The adult-use sections don't say the words probation, parole, bond, or drug test. That's why a legal jar and a court order can both be true on the same day in Michigan. The shop sale follows section 5. The cup follows the order, Hess, and the probation code.

What Can a Michigan Probation Order Still Require? #

The probation statute still has mandatory conditions, and it still lets a Michigan court add other conditions that fit that person.

MCL 771.3(1)(a) is mandatory. During probation, "the probationer shall not violate any criminal law of this state, the United States, or another state," or a city ordinance. The Court of Appeals in Hess read that United States clause, plus the federal drug statute, as a reason to ban adult-use marijuana. The Supreme Court reversed that reading for MRTMA-compliant use. Federal law still treats recreational marijuana as illegal. Hess says that federal fact, by itself, can't be the probation ban.

The rest of subsection (1) is also mandatory, and it isn't a drug rule. You don't leave Michigan without the court's consent. You report to the probation officer as often as you're told, in person, virtually, or in writing. Money lines cover restitution, supervision fees, and the minimum state cost. None of those sentences is a cannabis test.

Drug treatment can be added. MCL 771.3(2) lets the court require inpatient or outpatient drug treatment, or substance-abuse counseling, along with a list of other options. The section doesn't order a urine cup in those words. A test shows up when the court adds it.

MCL 771.3(3) is the open door. The court may impose other lawful conditions "as the circumstances of the case require or warrant or as in its judgment are proper." MCL 771.3(11) then ties conditions under subsections (2) and (3) to the person. They must be individually tailored. They must address the assessed risks and needs. They must be designed to reduce recidivism. The court adjusts them when it decides an adjustment is right, and it considers the victim's input.

Hess asked itself the next question and didn't answer it. The opinion says the Court leaves open "whether and under what circumstances a trial court may prohibit MRTMA-compliant marijuana use as a discretionary condition of probation under MCL 771.3(3)." The July 8, 2026 SCAO memo repeats that the second issue wasn't reached.

So a judge in Michigan, including one in Wayne County, can still write conditions. Hess knocked out one reason. It didn't hand every person on probation a right to smoke. If your order bans marijuana and the only reason in the record is federal law, Hess is the case. If the order ties the ban to the risks assessed in your case, the Supreme Court hasn't given the yes or no yet.

Look for these lines on the probation paper:

• A ban on marijuana, cannabis, or weed, and whether any reason is written next to it.
• A ban on controlled substances or illegal drugs, which is a different phrase from a marijuana line.
• An order to test, or to join a treatment program.
• Language that the conditions are tailored to you, which is what subsection (11) is talking about.

The shop checked your birthday. The court paper doesn't care that the sale was legal. I grow the flower for Divine Toke here in Michigan, and the order still outranks the jar.

How Does a Medical Card Change Probation? #

A Michigan registry card is a different statute. People v. Thue says a court can't revoke probation for medical use that follows the medical law.

People v. Thue is a Court of Appeals opinion from February 11, 2021, docket 353978. Hess cites it as 336 Mich App 35 (2021). The probation order in Thue banned marijuana, including medical marijuana. The defendant had a registry card, and nothing in the case showed use outside the medical act. The court held that probation-act provisions allowing a ban on MMMA-compliant use conflict with the medical law and can't be enforced. It also held that revoking probation for that compliant medical use is a "penalty."

MMMA means the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. MCL 333.26424 says a qualifying patient who has been issued and possesses a registry card isn't subject to arrest, prosecution, or "penalty in any manner," or denied any right or privilege, for medical use in accordance with that act. Thue treats probation revocation as that kind of penalty.

Thue drew a hard line under recreational use. The opinion says the medical act is inapplicable to recreational use, so a trial court may still impose probation conditions for recreational use and revoke probation for that use, and for marijuana use that violates the medical act. That sentence is from 2021.

Hess is the 2026 adult-use case, and it doesn't pretend Thue already solved the shop-flower question. Hess holds that a court may not ban MRTMA-compliant use solely because federal law bans it. In a footnote, the Supreme Court declines to decide whether Thue is an absolute bar on every medical limit, and whether any such bar would also cover adult-use. So a card and a receipt from a Michigan counter aren't the same paper.

Paper you hold	Case to read	What it decides
Registry card, use inside the medical act	Thue	A court can't revoke probation for that compliant medical use.
No card, adult use inside the MRTMA amounts	Hess	A court may not ban that use solely because federal law bans it. A tailored ban is still an open question.
Use that breaks the medical act or the adult-use limits	Neither case grants a pass	Both opinions stay with compliant use.

If you don't have a card, don't borrow Thue. Hess is the adult-use opinion, and only for use that stays inside the MRTMA lines. A card also doesn't erase a workplace test. That fight is in can you get fired for legal weed in Michigan.

Can a Testing Bond Treat a Positive Test as a Violation? #

It can, when the release order checks a line that forbids marijuana or treats the test as a breach. People v. Hess decided probation, not a pretrial bond.

A testing bond is a release order while the case is open. Probation is a sentence after a conviction. They get mixed up because both can involve a cup. They're different papers, and Hess doesn't mention bond.

Michigan courts use a statewide form for this. SCAO Form MC 240, revised September 2022, is the Pretrial Release Order. The form cites Michigan Court Rule 6.106 on its face. Item 5 says you comply with the terms and conditions that are checked. Two of those lines sit next to each other, and they're separate boxes:

• "Do not use alcohol. marijuana. illegal controlled substances."
• "Participate in a substance abuse testing or monitoring program."

A testing line doesn't, by itself, say the court banned cannabis. A marijuana line does, when it's checked. Read the marks on your copy. An unchecked box isn't your condition.

The last page of MC 240 is the acknowledgment. If you fail the terms, you may be subject to arrest without a warrant, jail, contempt of court, and new conditions of release. If release is revoked and a bond was posted, the full amount may be forfeited, no matter who posted it. That's the form's own warning. It isn't a Wayne County invention. The form is the state form.

"Illegal controlled substances" is its own phrase on that line, next to the word marijuana. MCL 333.7212 still lists marihuana in schedule 1, "except as provided in subsection (2)." Subsection (2) calls it schedule 2 only if it's handled in compliance with the public health code and as authorized by federal authority. Hess says recreational use remains unlawful under the federal Controlled Substances Act. So the schedule listing is still on the books. The adult-use act still says compliant conduct isn't grounds for a penalty. Hess still won't let a probation court use the federal ban as the only reason. None of those three sentences interprets the bond checkbox for you. The checked boxes on MC 240 are what the order says. A lawyer reads "illegal controlled substances" against the marks on your page.

What a positive test means on a bond:

1. Marijuana box checked. The order forbids use. A positive result is evidence you broke that checked line. Hess didn't decide whether that pretrial line is valid.
2. Only the testing box checked. You're in a testing program. The order still has to say what a fail means. Don't guess from a probation case.
3. Neither box checked. A positive cannabis test isn't a breach of a condition the form never imposed. Other checked lines can still bind you, including "do not commit any crime while released."

The acknowledgment already says what a broken condition can cost.

Does Wayne County Write Its Own Cannabis Rule? #

No. The probation statute, the adult-use act, and People v. Hess are statewide, and they don't write a special cannabis rule for Wayne County.

Wayne County circuit court and the district courts inside the county are Michigan courts. MCL 771.3, MCL 771.4b, and MCL 333.27955 apply there the same way they apply in every other county. Detroit sits in Wayne County, so a Detroit court order is still that Michigan order. The judge's name on the signature line doesn't create a second cannabis code.

Hess itself didn't come out of Wayne County. The holding is from the Michigan Supreme Court, so it reaches a probation order here the same way it reaches one anywhere else in the state. The July 8, 2026 SCAO memo went to district, municipal, and circuit judges. That's the whole trial bench, not one county's handbook.

A testing bond in Wayne County is still Form MC 240, or another release order that lists the conditions. Check the marijuana box and the testing box. The form doesn't add a Detroit-only THC number. Your copy might have a handwritten line under "Other." That handwritten line is part of your order. It isn't a county policy for the next person in the lobby.

What stays local is the paper, not a secret rule:

• Which boxes are checked.
• Any extra words the court wrote on that form.
• Probation, or a bond. The heading on the paper tells you which.
• The charge that put you there, because the technical-violation day caps change for a misdemeanor, a felony, and the domestic-violence cases named in MCL 771.4b(6), which you should read next to the day-cap table.

If someone tells you "Wayne County always fails you for weed," ask to see that sentence in a statute or in your order. The statewide texts don't say it. The order in your hand might. Those are different.

How Do a Job Test, the Drive, and Parole Differ? #

A job test, a drive, and parole are three other papers. Hess doesn't rewrite them.

A workplace test is the employer's rule. MCL 333.27954(3) says the adult-use act doesn't require an employer to permit or accommodate cannabis at work or on the employer's property. It also doesn't prohibit discipline for a workplace drug policy, or for working while under the influence. A Detroit plant, a hospital badge, or a truck seat can still end the shift over a cup. The longer file is can you get fired for legal weed in Michigan. A probation win under Hess doesn't travel to the time clock.

The drive is section 4, not section 5. MCL 333.27954(1) doesn't authorize operating a vehicle while under the influence, and it doesn't authorize consuming while you're driving or smoking in the passenger area on a public way. Start with blood THC versus impairment if the stop is the question. Don't mix a probation cup with a roadside blood draw. They measure different problems.

Parole is MCL 791.236. The parole board orders parole and signs it. Subsection (4) says the conditions have to be individualized, have to address the assessed risks and needs, and have to be designed to reduce recidivism. That section doesn't mention cannabis or a drug test. Hess is a probation opinion. Don't treat a parole order like the order in Hess. If the parole paper bans marijuana or requires a test, that written line is the condition you have, and this probation case doesn't erase it.

An old conviction is a fourth paper. Waiting out probation or parole so you can ask to set a case aside is a clock in the set-aside guide. Buying a legal jar doesn't clear an old conviction. Clearing the old case doesn't tear up a probation order you're on right now. The July policy wrap mentions Hess in shorter form if you want the month it landed: July 2026 policy roundup.

Federal supervision is outside this page's holding. Hess says Michigan probation can't use the federal ban as the only reason to forbid compliant adult use. It doesn't say what a federal judge can put on federal probation or supervised release. If your paper is from a federal court, take that paper to a lawyer who practices there. A Wayne County state order and a federal judgment aren't interchangeable.

What Should You Read on the Court Order? #

Read the checked lines, and any handwritten reason, before you treat a legal jar as a free pass.

The statutes answer the statewide question. Your name is on a different page. Walk it in this order:

1. Which paper it is. Probation order, or pretrial release order. Hess speaks to probation. MC 240 speaks to the bond.
2. Which words are checked. Marijuana, cannabis, controlled substances, illegal drugs, testing, treatment. A test line and a no-marijuana line aren't the same box on MC 240.
3. Whether a reason is written. No reason, and the only argument in court was federal law, is the Hess fact pattern. A reason tied to your assessed risks is the question the Supreme Court left open under MCL 771.3(3) and (11).
4. Whether the use was compliant. Age 21, the 2.5-ounce line, the 15-gram concentrate cap, and the section 4 bans, all in MCL 333.27955 and MCL 333.27954. A registry card pulls in Thue instead.
5. What a fail is called. On probation, missing or failing a drug test is a technical violation under MCL 771.4b, with the day caps and the revocation limit in that section.

Take that stack to your lawyer. This page can show you the statute and the opinion. The order is the rule you were put under.

FAQ #

Does legal weed force a probation officer to stop testing? #

No. Adult-use sales don't repeal a testing condition the court already wrote. MCL 771.3 doesn't contain a drug-test sentence of its own, and it does let the court add lawful conditions. Once a test is on the order, MCL 771.4b calls missing or failing it a technical probation violation. The officer supervises the order. The officer doesn't get to invent a ban the paper doesn't have, and legality at a Michigan counter doesn't delete a line the court did write.

If the ban existed only because federal law bans weed, what happens to the violation? #

Hess sent that kind of violation back. The July 6, 2026 opinion holds that a trial court may not prohibit MRTMA-compliant use as a probation condition solely because such use violates federal law, and it remanded so the trial court could reconsider vacating the first violation and dismissing the second. That's People v. Hess, docket 167895. The remand is for that case's order, which gave no reason for the ban. It isn't an automatic eraser for every marijuana line in Michigan.

Can a judge still forbid marijuana for a reason tied to your case? #

The Supreme Court didn't decide that. Hess leaves open whether, and under what circumstances, a trial court may prohibit MRTMA-compliant use as a discretionary condition under MCL 771.3(3). Subsection (11) still says those added conditions must be individually tailored to the assessed risks and needs and designed to reduce recidivism. The July 8, 2026 SCAO memo tells judges the second issue wasn't reached. A reason on your order isn't the same thing as a ruling that the reason is valid.

What jail time can follow a failed drug test on probation? #

If the court treats it as a technical violation, MCL 771.4b(1) caps temporary jail at 5, 10, then 15 days for misdemeanor probation, and 15, 30, then 45 days for felony probation. After a fourth technical violation the cap is the remaining eligible sentence. Subsection (4) says the court shall not revoke probation for a technical violation unless you were already sanctioned for 3 or more and then commit another, subject to the exception in subsection (6) for certain domestic-violence and stalking probation. Subsection (7) starts from a presumption of a summons instead of a warrant. Those numbers are the statute. They aren't a promise about your hearing.

Does the Supreme Court case reach a Wayne County order? #

Yes. Hess is a Michigan Supreme Court probation case, so it reaches a Wayne County probation order. It didn't start in Wayne County, and it doesn't create a Detroit-only rule. MCL 771.4b is statewide too. Your checked boxes and any handwritten "Other" line are still the local part. A testing bond in Detroit is MC 240 or whatever release order you signed, and Hess doesn't decide that bond.

Is a testing bond the same paper as probation? #

No. A testing bond is pretrial release, and probation is a sentence. Form MC 240 lists "do not use" marijuana and "participate in a substance abuse testing or monitoring program" as separate checkboxes. The acknowledgment says a broken condition can mean arrest, jail, contempt, new conditions, and forfeiture of a posted bond. Hess doesn't cite that form. Don't paste the probation holding onto a bond the opinion never mentioned.

Does a medical card follow the adult-use case? #

No. The card follows People v. Thue, and shop flower follows Hess. Thue holds that revoking probation for MMMA-compliant use is a penalty under MCL 333.26424. The same 2021 opinion says the medical act doesn't cover recreational use. Hess later barred a federal-law-only probation ban on MRTMA-compliant use, and it declined to decide whether Thue's broader rule also covers adult-use. No card means you don't get the Thue holding.

Does this change a job test in Detroit? #

No. A Detroit employer can still use a workplace drug policy. MCL 333.27954(3) says the adult-use act doesn't require an employer to allow cannabis at work, and it doesn't prohibit discipline for a workplace drug policy or for working under the influence. Plants, hospitals, and a lot of union shops in Wayne County still test. The file for that is can you get fired for legal weed in Michigan. Hess is about a probation condition, not a badge.

Does a parole order follow the probation opinion? #

No. Parole is a parole-board order under MCL 791.236, and Hess is a probation case. Subsection (4) requires individualized conditions aimed at the parolee's risks and at reducing recidivism. The section doesn't mention cannabis or a drug test. If your parole paper bans marijuana, that line is still on the paper. Setting aside an old case after probation or parole ends is a different clock, covered in the set-aside guide.

Which pages hold the statute and the opinion? #

Start with Hess, then the probation code, then the adult-use act. The opinion is the July 6, 2026 PDF. The failed-test label is MCL 771.4b. The lawful amounts are MCL 333.27955. The bond checkboxes are MC 240. The judges' memo is the July 8, 2026 SCAO note. Bring the PDF and your own order to the lawyer. The order wins when they conflict, because the order is the condition in your case and the opinion is the limit on one kind of condition.

The Paper and the Jar #

A legal sale in Michigan and a positive test can sit in the same week. Hess stops a probation ban that exists only because federal law bans weed. It doesn't stop a tailored condition the Supreme Court hasn't ruled on, and it doesn't rewrite a testing bond, a parole order, or a Detroit job test. MCL 771.4b still calls a failed drug test a technical probation violation when that test is a term of the order.

If the cup is about work, read can you get fired for legal weed in Michigan. If it's about the drive, read blood THC versus impairment. If the old case is the worry, read marijuana set-aside and expungement. The shorter note from the month Hess came down is the July 2026 policy roundup.

This is not legal advice. Your order and your lawyer control your case.

The order is the page the cup answers to. Take it with you.