Test Free (tm) - The Ultimate Defense Against Urine Tests! This file contains information on urinalysis, as well as information on a product designed to help people defeat urinalysis. Transcribed by the Dak - 8/3/90 - Holiday Inn, Cambodia BBS - 209/456-8584 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Drug use is a problem. We, as citizens, shouldn't stop worrying about the problem. But maybe we should start worrying about the solution! To some, the solution to the American drug catastrophe is simple...MASS DRUG TESTING! Could it be? Think of it! All we have to do is make everyone pee in a cup and POOF! The national cancer of drug abuse will disappear faster than the family farm! Why did your national drug problem suddenly become the focus of political and business decisions? Given the speed and enthusiasm with which many of our elected officials and business leaders have accepted drug testing as a cure-all, did this change mean there was a sudden worsening of the problem? The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that nearly two-thirds of those entering the work force have used illegal drugs...44% within the past year. But, ironically, the current craze for wide-scale drug testing has gained populatiry just when most types of drug use are stable or beginning to drop. NIDA reports that for all drugs except cocaine, current rates are, for the first time below those of 1979...our peak year of drug use! "No person...shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." - Fifth Amendment So why the frenzy now? Drugs are just too good a political issue! Wide-spread drug tests make it look as though our national leaders are "doing something about the problem! Drug testing seems to be the product of election-year sculpturing and well-timed and well-financed marketing efforts by the test manufacturers! Sales of drug tests have recently gotten a big boost from the attitudes and orders of the Reagan administration, which has recommended a drug testing program that will affect most American workers. Strangely, drug testing is becoming wide-spread in spite of general agreement that the results of mass tests are more often than not grossly inaccurate! Studies of laboratory accuracy have confirmed ridiculously high error rates. One group of researchers reported a 70% rate of "false- positives", while other groups have claimed that the rate of "false- positives" have been closer to 100%! False-positive mistakes (identifying a "clean" urine sample as containing an illegal drug) are far more serious than any false-negative mistakes. This is because false-positives can, and have, resulted in innocent people losing their jobs...or not being hired at all. Ironically, since the ERROR RATES derived from the drug tests are HIGHER than the ACTUAL RATE OF ILLEGAL DRUG USE in the general working population, as reported by NIDA, the tests are far more likely to label INNOCENT PEOPLE AS DRUG USERS than to identify REAL USERS! Wouldn't you or your mother love to be labeled an "addict" after taking a couple of Advils for that holiday headache? "Urine tests are overly sensitive to marijuana; detecting chemical by- products for months after use!" Many false-positive results stem from "cross-reactivity". This refers to the fact that hundreds of over-the-counter medications, vitamins, prescription drugs and even everyday food items can produce false-positive results on these tests! For example, Contac, Sudafed, most diet preparations, decongestants, heart and asthma medications can all register as amphetamines on the tests. Over-the-counter cough syrup can cross-react as opiates and antibiotics show up as cocaine! Anti-inflammatory drugs and common pain-killers, including Datril, Advil and Nuprin show up as marijuana. Even those poppy seeds on your dinner roll can cause a positive result for morphine...and some herbal teas show up as cocaine! And tonic water...common in mixed drinks...makes it look as though you are shooting heroin! Commercial testing companies always claim very high accuracy and reliability, but these labs are not uniformly regulated and employers who buy their services find it impossible to confirm these claims or even to conduct informed comparative shopping! The companies that mass-market testing kits (such as the popular EMITs...which cost an estimated $15 to $25 per test) always recommend that positive test results be confirmed with other laboratory procedures, which can run from $100 to $200 per test! But, relatively few employers are using the expensive back-up procedure before firing employees who test positive. Even when employers DO verify positive results, employees who, upon retesting, turn out to be drug-free will be stigmatized! TWO to THREE tests are sometimes needed for conclusive results, and even then they DO NOT DIFFERENTIATE between someone who has tried drugs ONCE and someone who's a chronic user! The tests CANNOT tell WHEN a drug was ingested, and if a drug was taken at home or at a party on a WEEKEND, should an employee be penalized for that? URINALYSIS CAN REVEAL A LOT ABOUT OFF-THE-JOB ACTIVITIES, BUT IT TELLS NOTHING ABOUT JOB PERFORMANCE! Another critical failing of these tests are their limited sensitivity to certain drugs (A shortcoming their manufacturers readily admit.) Cocaine, the only illicit drug whose use has risen is the one drug to which the tests are the least sensitive. By contrast, urine tests are...if anything...OVERLY SENSITIVE TO MARIJUANA; detecting chemical by-products (not its ACTIVE ingredient) for MONTHS after use, and even picking up the residue of passive inhalation!! "...the right of the people to be secure in their persons...against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." - Fourth Amendment. Also note that there is one "drug" nobody is saying much about...alcohol. Nearly 25,000,000 Americans are alcoholic or problem drinkers. Alcohol is legal, but potentially detrimental to job performance. Alcoholism costs us almost 200 billion dollars a year in lost work, medical expenses, car wrecks and the removal of stubborn carpet stans. Booze is responsible for nearly 100,000 deaths per year and who knows how many dumb marriages! There are simple, cheap, accurate tests for alcohol use. However, nearly two-thirds of American adults drink...and that's A LOT OF VOTERS! So alcohol testing is done SPARINGLY, with PROBABLE CAUSE, under HIGHLY JUSTIFIABLE circumstances...usually when you're driving home nude from a New Year's Eve party! Nobody is trying to make alcohol tests a regular feature of work, school or sports, let alone Government employment! How many congressmen would care to be tested after 6:00 p.m.? FRESHEN UP THAT DRINK FOR YOU SENATOR? Probably one of the greatest costs of mass drug testing involve violations of worker's rights and the poor employee morale and broken trust that result when workers must prove themselves from the PRESUMPTION OF GUILT! And don't forget the INVASION OF THE WORKER'S PRIVACY! Urinalysis may be great at revealing who is pregnant, who is diabetic, and a host of other conditions, but it's very difficult to imagine how scatter-shot drug testing could be acceptable...let alone LEGAL under the Fourth Amendment which is clear that..."The right of the people to be secure in thier persons...against unreasonable searches and seizures, whall not be violated..." Searches are permitted only "upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." How could this type of testing be legal no matter how "PARTICULARLY" the government describes the manner in which one urinates? And the Fifth Amendment is also clear: "no person...shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." If using the contents of your bladder as evidence isn't making you a witness against yourself, then what would that be considered as doing? Even people accused of the most HEINOUS crimes are assured of this minimum protection from Government intrusion! With all the critical failings, why has drug testing become so popular? Maybe some of the real solutions, such as education, rehabilitation, and medical research are difficult and complex...much like reality itself. (And reality is one thing politicians could never stand too much of!) Drug testing is simple, objective and not easily challenged because it relies on technology that very few understand. It's quicker and cheaper than serious and sustained efforts to reduce illegal drug use...such as the mass educational efforts that have successfully reduced cigarette smoking. While drug testing does little to combat the Real problem of drug use, it reinforces the employers ILLUSION of "DOING SOMETHING"! Apparently, some employers would rather test employees for drugs than build a relationship with them based on confidence and loyalty! A relationship doesn't just come from a paycheck! When you say to an employee, "You're doing a great job with us, but just the same I want to you pee in this cup and I'm sending someone to watch you", you've UNDERMINED that trust! Drug tests create an atmosphere of distrust, resentment and demoralization! Does any country in its right mind want an entire population feeling this way about its Government? Are we going to allow the Government and private employers to make an unprecedented and probably irreversible intrusion into our private lives? If so this could very well be the first step towards totalitarianism! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- About our Company Zydot Unlimited, Inc. is not an "Anti-law" organization, nor are we "Pro-drug"...we are ANTI-DRUG TESTING! We are representatives of the public...here to protect and preserve the Constitutional Rights of the American citizen. We do not promote or condone irrespnsible or illegal drug use of any kind. Our product Test Free (tm) was not developed as an aid for the drug abuser, but as a defense against this most serious threat to our liberty. Test Free (tm) is a safe and simple means of INSURANCE to be used as protection from unqualified laboratories, undertrained technicians, inaccurate tests, hundreds of cross-reactive over-the-counter and prescription medications, and even food items that can and do cause false- positive test results. Positive drug test results have had a devastating impact on a multitude of innocent people...drastically changing and sometimes destroying their lives. Yet, these urine tests are incapable of measuring impairment or on- the-job performance, nor can they prove or disprove that a person is a "drug user". We would like to help educate the public and make them aware of the fact that urine testing is a technology that is being iproperly applied and that current testing programs do not and cannot provide information of sufficient reliability to guide decision-makers. We feel the public has every right to defend themselves if faced with this unconstitutional situation. Pass your urinalysis with TEST FREE (tm) Eliminates any substance that could trigger a positive urine test result. - All natural ingredients - Works in less than 2 hours - Effective 4 to 5 hours - Mix with water and drink - Undetectable in urine - Not a drug - Money back guarantee This product was designed for personal use only and is not to be sold to or used by anyone undergoing a lawfully administered urine test. Zydot Unlimited, Inc. (tm) Tulsa, Oklahoma 918/747-2400 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven & the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845 Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766 realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662 Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699 The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674 Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560 "Raw Data for Raw Nerves" X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X