Synthetic urine remains on shelves, despite Texas law ban

(KLTV) - An East Texas drug testing facility says a synthetic product is helping too many potential drug users skate past tests.

Synthetic urine sold online and in stores promises to help the buyer pass a urine test, and collectors say lab tests won't detect a difference.

Collection manager Justin Kyle with Drug and Alcohol Testing Compliance Services, Inc. in East Texas says they confiscate boxes worth of tiny bottles from people getting drug tested.

"We catch these guys on a weekly sometimes daily basis," says Kyle. "The most dangerous drug abuser is by definition the one that can pass any drug test."

A 2015 Texas law amendment bans selling "synthetic urine  designed to falsify drug test," but it continues to be sold in area tobacco and novelty shops.

A $40 box included a sample bottle with liquid, and a hand warmer to get the fake urine within body temperature range. The loophole that keeps the sale legal can be found in the fine print.  Websites online boast the products are guaranteed to pass urine tests 100 percent undetectable. The box, however, reads "not intended for illegal purposes."

"They're saying it's not to adulterate a drug test, it's for a novelty item…like if you're into fetishes," says Kyle. "But if it's for a novelty item, they should work with drug testing companies to help us detect their product."

Click here for DATCS Petition demanding regulations for synthetic urine

Kyle says without any known way to catch fake urine in a lab, his company has developed a training program to help collectors spot the synthetic in other ways.  He says they've been able to confirm 115 people tried to use synthetic urine since 2013; 83 were suspected, but left the collection site when confronted.

We contacted several East Texas drug testing centers and most we talked to said they haven't noticed an uptick in synthetic urine use.  Kyle believes that's because users are going undetected.

"I've caught bottles of synthetic urine on-site at oil rigs and regular companies," Kyle says. "Sometimes drivers will have the bottle sitting in the dash of their vehicle so that it can stay warm."

For Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim services manager in Tyler, Carol King, the product could be making streets more unsafe.

"I don't think anybody with any type of conscience  could do that and sleep at night if they were themselves a victim of intoxicated driving," says King. "It's scary that it's out there and people are actually producing it, but I don't think people will ever stop trying to get around drug testing...I think they'll always find a way."

Quick Fix company representatives did not respond to our request for a comment.

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