"These products ... endanger the public," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who called this week's hearing. "I can't think of any reason why we'd allow these products in interstate commerce."

Presently, 14 states have enacted laws prohibiting the sale of such products. Members of the Committee said they intend to introduce similar federal legislation before the end of the year.

Of the estimated 55 million drug tests performed annually, approximately 90 percent of those are urine tests, which may be influenced by dilution or adding an adulterant to the sample. Over the past decade, numerous commercial businesses have begun selling various products promising to influence drug test results, including herbal teas and substitute urine.

While often referred to as an impairment test, urinalysis cannot detect the presence of parent drugs, and only indicates that a particular substance may have been previously consumed at some unspecified point in time. In the case of cannabis, non-psychoactive marijuana metabolites (compounds produced from chemical changes of a drug in the body) may be detectable in urine for days or even weeks after past use. As a result, the US Department of Justice affirms that a positive urine test, even when confirmed, "does not indicate ... recency, frequency, or amount of [drug] use; or impairment."

Responding to the proposed Congressional action, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said, "It's ironic that Congress is trying to quash legitimates businesses that have successfully emerged in the free market - particularly when the market for this industry is a direct result of politicians' zeal to intrusively search the bodily fluids of tens of millions of law abiding Americans without cause."

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500.