Inspired by Drug Testing, Texan Offers Untainted Urine for $49.95
An entrepreneur is selling drug-free urine for $49.95 a bag in a business that a civil libertarian says could boom as drug tests become more common.
Byrd Laboratories’ advertisement in an entertainment-oriented Austin newspaper says the urine is “for experimental purposes only.” It guarantees “100% pure urine . . . suitable for unanticipated urine demand.”
Lab owner Jeffrey Nightbyrd, 32, speculated that the most common use could be to beat on-the-job urine tests for drug use.
“The government says they have a right to take bodily fluids. I just decided I’d make some money off that because people are going to resist,” he said in an interview.
Nightbyrd said he had shipped more than 200 orders from his Austin warehouse. The urine, which he said is obtained through a deal with a local Bible study group, is tested and then packaged in plastic bags that include a tube through which it can be poured.
Gara LaMarche, director of the Texas Civil Liberties Union, praised the idea, predicting that there will be “a flourishing black market in clean urine” as drug tests become more widely used.
Dr. Robert Bernstein, Texas state health commissioner, said he knew of no state law that would prohibit urine sales.
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