FEDS RAID KY. BUSINESS

Products Intended to Foil Positive Drug Tests

NEWPORT - Federal authorities on Wednesday stormed the Monmouth Street
offices of a company that makes shampoos, sports drinks and synthetic
urine used to help people cheat on drug tests.

The execution of the sealed search warrants was part of a nationwide
investigation originating out of Pittsburgh, Drug Enforcement
Administration spokesman Rich Isaacson said. Officials declined to say
what was sought in the raid.

The lawyer representing the Newport company, Spectrum Laboratories,
said a competitor of her client had a facility raided the same day in
Union Township, Clermont County. An FBI spokesman confirmed a Clermont
County raid in connection to the Newport investigation but said he
could not elaborate, because the search warrant was sealed.

"I expect the investigation to unfold over a number of months, if not
years," said Spectrum attorney Jennifer Kinsley of Cincinnati.

She said Spectrum is based in Kentucky but she is not surprised the
investigation was being orchestrated from Pittsburgh.

The U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania
successfully prosecuted actor Tommy Chong in 2003 for selling bongs
and marijuana pipes on the Internet.

Chong - one half of the 1970s and '80s comedy duo Cheech & Chong - was
arrested during "Operation Pipe Dreams," a national investigation of
drug paraphernalia distributors led by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth
Buchanan of Pittsburgh.

A DVD of a documentary critical of Chong's arrest and imprisonment is
sold on Spectrum's Web site along with T-shirts that read "Party like
a rock star because urine luck with Spectrum labs."

Spectrum's product line includes "Urine Lick," a chemical that can be
mixed into a sample; "Quick Fix Synthetic Urine," pre-mixed urine that
can be used instead of an actual sample; and "Absolute Detox XXL Carbo
Drink," created to clear the systems of people weighing more than 200
pounds.

The site also contains the names of stores that carry Spectrum's
products. No shops in Northern Kentucky are listed.

But the products are available at businesses in many Cincinnati
neighborhoods.

Those shop locations include O'Bryonville, Corryville and
Westwood.

While Kentucky does not regulate such products, Congress held hearings
in 2005 on the growing industry but failed to pass any
legislation.

The founder of Spectrum, Matt Stephens, was one of three industry
leaders subpoenaed by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on
Oversight and Investigations as part of the federal inquiry, The
Enquirer reported at the time.

Stephens, who could not be reached Wednesday, invoked his Fifth
Amendment right at the congressional hearing and declined to answer
questions.

A 1986 law requires testing for illegal drugs among federal employees
and certain regulated industries. At the time of the hearings, it was
estimated that 20 million to 40 million drug tests are administered
each year.

"The basic principle underlying the federal workplace drug-testing
program and other drug-testing programs is that an illicit drug user
in a safety-sensitive position, such as driving a school bus or flying
an airplane, can put the public at risk," the chair of the hearing,
Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., told The Enquirer.