Athlete Incident Centers on Drug-Test Cheat Product May 13, 2005
News Summary
An incident where a Minnesota Vikings player was found to have a device designed to thwart drug tests is focusing new attention on the methods used by drug cheats, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported May 12.Vikings running back Onterrio Smith was recently stopped at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport because security inspectors found a 'Whizzinator' in his luggage. The device includes a fake penis and a reservoir for storing "clean" urine, and is designed to be used to fool even supervised drug testing.
Such devices are legal in Minnesota and most U.S. states, as are chemical masking agents, freeze-dried urine, and other methods for dodging drug tests in the workplace and in sports.
"There's a lot of really good chemists out there, and some of them are working on the dark side," said Jennifer Collins, lab director at Medtox Laboratories, a major drug-testing lab. "Most of the products don't work very well. We think we catch most of them in testing. But the developers are getting more sophisticated, and as soon as we figure out how to catch one product, they're coming out with another one."
The Whizzinator is relatively simple compared to the chemical products: it comes in five flesh tones and fits in a jock strap. That could fool inspectors when testing subjects are allowed to enter a bathroom alone to produce a urine sample. But testing facilities like Additional Testing, Inc., in Roseville, Minn., try to counter cheating by testing the temperature of urine samples, requiring subjects to empty their pockets before entering the bathroom, and limiting the amount of time allotted to provide a sample.
"If you're already on the job, adulterating your urine can be worse than failing the test," said Roslyn Paterson, a nurse at Additional Testing. "Some places they'll fire you for faking it, but they'll give you treatment if you test positive."
Criminal offenders in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area are subject to testing, and are watched closely by corrections officers when giving samples. "We watch them go," said state corrections agent Richard Pung. "Most of these guys don't bother to cheat. There's not much you can do while I'm watching."
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