Pubdate: Wed, 18 May 2005 Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN) Copyright: 2005 Star Tribune Contact: http://www.startribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/266 Author: Rob Hotakainen, Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) SELLERS OF WHIZZINATOR KITS TAKE THE FIFTH WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the Whizzinator arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, members of Congress proposed passing a law that would make it illegal to use such products to thwart drug tests. The Whizzinator is one of approximately 400 different products used to adulterate urine samples, and they present "formidable obstacles" to the integrity of the nation's drug-testing programs, according to a new federal report. The report was released as three manufacturers and sellers of the drug-test kits pleaded the Fifth Amendment, declining to answer questions at a hearing after receiving subpoenas from the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said he doesn't understand how sellers of the products sleep at night, calling them "jokers making a fortune trying to defraud and deceive." Minnesota Case At a table in the back of the hearing room, panel members could examine a plastic bag of synthetic toxin-free urine, attached to an adjustable belt. The device, which includes a prosthetic penis, has become well-known in Minnesota after it was disclosed last week that Vikings running back Onterrio Smith had been detained by airport police for carrying both the Whizzinator and dried urine. According to a police report, Smith said the kit he was carrying last month at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was "for making a clean urine test." He told police he was taking it to his cousin. Smith was neither arrested nor charged. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., the subcommittee's ranking member, said that some might chuckle about Smith's case but that there are "serious implications" to the use of such products and that Congress needs to act. "The laughs quickly end when one considers that such a product could be used by persons operating nuclear power plants, driving 1,000-foot supertankers into port or bus drivers bringing our children into school," Stupak said. George Moore, attorney for a four-county district in eastern Kentucky, told the panel that typing the phrase "pass the urine test" into an Internet search engine will yield thousands of hits. "One recent effort on my part yielded 657,000 possible websites for review," he said. The report by the Government Accountability Office concluded that products to defraud drug tests "are easily obtained" and "brazenly marketed" on the Internet. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, suggested making it illegal to post ads for such products. "I think the consensus is we need some federal action," said Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., the subcommittee's chairman. To highlight the issue, the panel heard testimony by video conference from Josiah Smith, a Maryland prison inmate. Smith, 31, said that he began using drugs at age 13 and that he once used a drug-test kit before taking a drug test when he applied for a job at a Wal-Mart store. "As long as you follow the directions, they work perfectly," Smith said. He said he got the job. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake