Fake urine allows addicts, users to cheat drug tests

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Drug abuse continues to leave a tragic trail.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70,237 people died from drug overdoses in 2017 alone.

Drug abuse is also expensive, The Council of Economic Advisors estimates the cost of the opioid crisis in 2018 cost $696 billion in the value of lost lives, as well as increases in health care and substance abuse treatment costs, increases in criminal justice costs, and reductions in productivity.

That’s why so many corporations and businesses rely upon drug tests of new and current employees. But that system works only if the tests are reliable.

A Local 12 Investigation examined a popular product that experts say allows addicts and users to cheat on urinalysis (UA), the most common type of drug test, which doctors say could lead to deadly outcomes.