This story originally appeared on Benzinga
Cannabis, which can be detected by urine screens for up to a month after consumption, has been legal for adults in Michigan since 2018 although drug testing for certain jobs persists…as do myriad methods to get around it.
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Fake urine is the main one and several Michigan lawmakers are intent on putting an end to it and other drug-test-skirting tactics.
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Paying the price for pee
Senate bills 134 and 135 would make it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for someone to “distribute, deliver, sell, or possess with intent to distribute, deliver, or sell a drug masking product.”
Senate Bill 134 has passed in the Senate and is now headed for a vote on the House floor.
“Unfortunately, some people have taken steps to mask their drug test results in their workplace,” said Jamie Callahan, district Senate director who spoke on behalf of S.B. 134 sponsor Sen. Curtis S. Vanderwall when the bills were discussed last month, reported mlive.com.
Also weighing in was Dr. Barry Sample, director of science and technology with Quest Diagnostics who noted that people are cheating the tests now more than ever, adding that 18 other states have already banned or criminalized masking products.
Sample said fake urine manufacturers are engaged in a “cat-and-mouse” game that has resulted in products that are increasingly effective in passing as legitimate.
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Faking it is on the rise
The number of specimens that have been tested and determined to be counterfeit or fraudulent has doubled over the last 10 years and increased in pace over the last five years, said Sample who admitted that outlawing fake urine and other such products in Michigan may not prevent Internet sales.
How does it work?
The liquid is made of chemicals and liquids that mimic the characteristics of urine, usually rendering its fraudulent nature undetectable. One of the limited ways a testing company discovers they’re being duped is by checking the sample’s temperature although fake urine often comes with warming packs and temperature strips to maintain warmth.
Test takers usually conceal the bottle of fake urine by strapping it to their thigh or ankle or stuffing it into their pocket.
A cat-and-mouse game indeed.
