Hot Line Offers Way Around Drug Tests but Fee Could Be Downer

Seeking to make a political statement and a buck at the same time, a San Diego man has started a telephone service that offers advice on how to beat workplace drug testing.

The two-minute, tape-recorded message provides callers with information on the lengths of time that commonly used, illicit drugs stay in the body and suggests ways to doctor urine samples to mask evidence of drug use. A Los Angeles toxicologist who heard the recording said the information is generally accurate.

The hot line--believed to be the first of its kind--is primarily the work of W. Evan Sloane, who belongs to a small group of San Diego residents called Question Authority. The organization’s members founded the nine-day-old telephone service and may take other stands against the spread of drug testing by employers and the military, Sloane said.

‘Some Common Sense’

“Question Authority is an attempt to focus some common sense on what’s going on in our lives,” he said Thursday. “The little guy is getting beaten down by this and doesn’t know how to defend himself because he assumes these tests are accurate.”

Sloane added, “We believe forcing people to take a urine test to get or keep a job is unwarranted search and is unconstitutional.”

For $2 (plus toll charges outside San Diego), callers to (619) 976-TEST can get advice on drinking large quantities of fluid to dilute evidence of drugs in a urine sample and adding bleach or rubbing alcohol to urine samples to confound urinalyses.

“We at Question Authority do not condone drug abuse,” says a woman’s voice on the tape. “But we do believe that no government and no corporation should be able to intrude into our personal lives so long as we live up to our responsibilities.”

Has Use for Profits

Sloane refused to say how much money he makes on each call. He said he hopes to put some of the profits into his business as a financial planner for educational employees.