October 15,2014
To: Warden for my appeal:
Before I left the county jail more than three years ago I made a personal commitment to changing my life and future, starting from inside prison. In that time I had to clear my mind of all substances, understanding that the core root of all my problems rested at the heart of my addiction. The longer I remained sober and free from all substances, the stronger I became, the morals and values that my family spent a lifetime teaching me began to resurface, my goals and aspirations became more clear and the need to adhere to strengthening my sobriety grew with it. Having said that, today I celebrate more than three years of meaningful sobriety. Whatever the reason for a false positive urine screen may be, the test was wrong and I will fight this until it is resolved properly. I have neither seen nor touched marijuana since I left the county jail over three years ago. Another inmate next door to my cell was also wrongly accused for positive urine; his name was mixed up with someone similar to his. It's also been verified by my family that my medication causes false positives for marijuana, along with the ibuprofrin I take from the commissary. I could tell as soon as I entered the R.I.B. room to plead my case that they already saw me as guilty, one of the two officers wouldn't even let me finish talking. This entire situation that I have fought hard to avoid and set behind me in life has caused a lot of unwanted pain. I've made a lot of bad decisions that have led me up to this point in my life, yet this is not one of them, I did not relapse on marijuana or any other substance for that matter. I don't even smoke cigarettes anymore. Now I run an average of thirty to sixty miles on the track each week, I practice yoga, make healthy food choices, I'm excelling in horticulture and I'm even learning how to play the guitar now. None of these above mentioned life choices correlate with drug usage. My family as well as my attorney is involved in this current predicament, taking every necessary step to see that this matter is resolved with the outcome proving true to my three years of sobriety. A hair test has been brought to my attention as one of several avenues. I wasn't offered an opportunity to take another test by the prison and I'm not sure why that is. For the past three years I've also maintained a daily written blog that is updated regularly on the internet through my family. I write about my day to day life in prison, holding myself accountable. My writings do in fact correlate with my goal oriented lifestyle, none of which match up with that of an active drug user. Please take my plea very seriously, as I will not quit, or give up until this matter is resolved and my once untarnished record is cleared of any wrong doings. Thank you for your time
Steven Dybvad
