Senator wants to outlaw urine sales
Greenville News

Visitors to Kenneth Curtis' secluded compound nestled in the woods of northern Greenville County must wind down a dirt road past no trespassing signs and beyond the "No Warrant. No Welcome" sign posted on a rusty post before they reach an electronic chain link gate.

Yet as wary as he is about strangers, the former pipe fitter has shipped a bit of himself to anyone willing to pay $69 plus shipping for five ounces of his urine -- guaranteed to pass drug testing for 30 days, longer if properly stored. Thousands more, Curtis says, have visited his company's Web site.

Curtis, wearing a "Right to Bear Arms" belt buckle, said his customers are free to do what they want with his urine, but he acknowledged that some may be trying to cover up drug use.

"I saw a privacy rights issue that wasn't being addressed," he said Wednesday as he stood outside his rural Marietta home where he lives with his wife and several dogs. "There is a great tradition in South Carolina for patriotism, and that's what I am trying to carry on."

Tradition or not, his venture has come under attack by a state senator who wants to outlaw the sale of urine.

If South Carolina passes a bill moving through the state legislature it would join Texas, Nebraska and Pennsylvania that have made it illegal to sell or give away urine for the purpose of defrauding a drug test.

"There is a method drug users have found to circumvent the drug test," said Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville. "It's really staggering that is legal."

Thomas said the legislation approved by the Senate Wednesday is a way to protect private businesses exercising their legal right to test employees for drugs.

Curtis contends the bill is a threat to people who want to keep their bodily fluids and all the information that can be gleaned from them to themselves. If passed, Curtis vows to fight the law in court.

Although adamant about a person's right to privacy, Curtis isn't shy about sharing some details of his business -- Privacy Protection Services.

He said he's been in business three years, and his Web site has received 17,000 visits in the last few months. "Business is whizzing along," said Curtis, who would not disclose his profits. He said his "one-man operation" produces about 50 samples a day. "I don't waste my assets," he said.

He said he has received orders from every state and around the world.

Those facing what Curtis calls the urine police shouldn't fret if they get his answering machine. "If you have an emergency urine testing situation, please call us on our beeper," says the message. "Don't worry. We can help."

Whether he's helping drug users evade detection isn't his problem, he said.

"I think the danger posed by legislators like Sen. Thomas is a much bigger danger to this country than what my service does."

He said many of his customers are not illegal drug users but don't want their employers to know they take anti-depressants, have the AIDS virus or are pregnant.

He said he doesn't promote illegal drug use, but his Web site provides a link to the Cannabis Freedom Fund, a non-profit group pushing to legalize marijuana use.

Send him a check, and Curtis guarantees urine that has been prescreened by a national lab.

The urine comes packaged in a tiny pouch with plastic tubing. He said the apparatus can be attached to the body and allows purchasers to use it without being detected by someone watching them take the test. A few heat packets come with the kit, so the user can warm the sample to body temperature.

Drug testing companies are increasingly using heat sensitive strips to check the temperature of samples.

Thomas is to appear on the "Today Show" with Curtis this morning. "This is a savvy entrepreneur," he said. "You have to give him that. He's found a market."

Under the bill, the first offense would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $5,000 fine or three years in prison. Subsequent offenses would be felonies punishable by a fine of no more than $10,000 and up to five years in jail. Purchasers would face no penalties.

"If we pass it, the problem is going to be enforcement," Thomas said. "If he keeps selling to his base list of customers, there's no catching him."