Michael Douglas' son Cameron narrowly avoided going back to prison after he violated the terms of his probation.
Cameron, 38, was released from jail in Aug. 2016 — but lived in a halfway house until March of this year — after serving nearly seven years in prison on drug charges. As part of his parole, he had to remain clean. But, the New York Post's Page Six said in a new report that he was caught with marijuana in his system in April.
The Post obtained court records which show that probation officers told a judge in May that Cameron took a random drug test on April 10 but was "attempting to manipulate the results." After more testing, marijuana was found in his system.
Rather than asking the judge to haul him back to prison, the probation officers recommended that Michael's son be given a second chance, claiming that "relapse is part of the recovery process."
"We would like to provide Mr. Douglas an opportunity to be in the community to see how he responds to setbacks," one of the officers said, the Post reported.
On June 21, probation officers were rewarded for their leniency. During a hearing in Manhattan Federal Court, a probation officer said that Cameron had been wearing drug-detecting "sweat patches" and they all came back negative. He's also been attending daily Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous meetings with a "sober companion," they said.
"Cameron was doing very well in group treatment," officers said. "His participation has been very good. They're happy with his progress."
In May, when it was revealed that Cameron tested positive for marijuana, Cameron's lawyer asked that his client get a proverbial slap on the wrist, adding that he suffered from "post-traumatic stress disorder."
"His period of imprisonment was horrific," lawyer Ben Brafman said, detailing that the son of the legendary actor was beaten in prison because he named his drug suppliers in order to get a more lenient sentence (he was essentially labeled a "rat").
Cameron has acknowledged that he's having a hard time adjusting to life on the outside, but said he's getting better at it.
"I have so much to live for. I have a lot of sort of goals and aspirations that I think that I'm more than capable of achieving," he said during his May status hearing. "I guess what I want to tell you is that since I've come back, I've worked really hard, and this hiccup is unfortunate, but I don't see it happening again."
His probation officers and lawyer agreed that he should be subject to more random drug testing, perhaps as much as twice a week.
In 2010, Michael said Cameron's imprisonment could be a "blessing in disguise."
His son, he said, "was going to be dead or somebody was gonna kill him. I think he has a chance to start a new life, and he knows that."