SAN ANTONIO – A KSAT 12 Defenders investigation could help pave the way for a change in Texas law regarding the sale of synthetic urine.
The product is legally bought and sold in Texas despite its widely known use as a way to try to fraudulently pass a drug screening.
A woman who identified herself as Emily is a participant in a Bexar County Drug Court program to help addicts recover.
Years after she began using drugs at age 13, she learned the hard way that synthetic urine does not always pass the test.
In February, Emily failed a drug screening using synthetic urine and now she has eight felony convictions.
"I had the desire to stop, I had the desire to change my life," she said. "I wanted it to get better, but the other side of me still wanted to get high."
The Defenders captured a store clerk on hidden camera admitting that he used the synthetic urine to beat a drug test.
"These work great though. I used to be in aviation. I've used it, like, three times," he said.
State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-Dist. 116, has amended House Bill 1212 since the Defenders first asked him about the legal sale of synthetic urine in our initial investigation.
HB 1212 already addressed the issue of synthetic substances and Martinez Fischer added synthetic urine to the bill.
"That allowed me then to also talk about synthetic urine and make it very clear in the Health and Safety Code that its illegal to use synthetic urine for the purposes of taking a drug test," said Martinez Fischer. "And then I took it a step further and said its also illegal to manufacture or distribute or intend to deliver synthetic urine when you know its being used to circumvent a drug test."
The bill has passed out of the full House and is now in the Senate for review. You can follow the progress of the bill here.
Bexar County Drug Court Magistrate Ernie Glenn agreed that the sale of synthetic urine should be illegal, but he doubts banning it will have much impact.
"Let's face it, when you look at drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines ... they're already illegal but that didn't stop people from using them," Glenn said.
As for Emily, she said she hopes to stay on the road to recovery and share her experience with other addicts who are looking to cheat the system.
"I couldn't do it anymore," she said. "I didn't want to go back and spend the rest of my life in prison."