Artie Lange in Jail After Positive Drug Test

A major setback for Artie Lange: The comedian, who has long struggled with drug addiction, is in jail in New Jersey after testing positive for cocaine twice in less than two months. Lawyer Frank Arleo tells NJ.com that Lange was remanded to jail after being given a drug test when he reported to the drug court at state Superior Court in Newark Wednesday. Arleo says Lange also tested positive for morphine. "He knows he's got a problem," the lawyer said Thursday. "He knows he shouldn’t have tested dirty yesterday, but he did. He knew what was going to happen."

According to a tweet from Lange's official account, the comedian was not arrested, but is being held for a few days to "sober up" before being transferred to a long-term treatment facility, Variety reports. Lange, who recently resumed his role on the Judd Apatow-produced HBO series Crashing, was sentenced to four years of probation in June last year in connection with a 2017 arrest for heroin possession. At a December court appearance for violating probation by testing positive for cocaine, Lange thanked the "compassionate" judge and prosecutor and said: "If I fail now I will go to jail. Jail is not for addicts. But I’d be giving them no choice." (After Lange was arrested in 2017, Apatow said he would "never give up" on him.)