You could say he's a whiz at business.

• Author: Maley, Frank
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler - Privacy Protection Services, switches urine samples for drug testing - Brief Article

Kenneth Curtis' pitch: Urine trouble no longer. He peddled his piddle to people who feared failing drug tests. His Hendersonville-based Privacy Protection Services, which had about $500,000 of sales last year, has caught the attention of lawmakers in both Carolinas.

Building the business was not as easy as drinking a lot of water and keeping a supply of plastic bags close at hand. Curtis had to avoid painkillers and other legal drugs that can produce false positives on tests. And if that wasn't bad enough: "I've made good money, but it has all gone to my lawyers."

They're fighting his conviction under a 1999 South Carolina law that forbids urine sales intended to fool drug testers. Curtis, a former pipe fitter, started the company in 1995 in Greenville, S.C., to sell his urine and kits that he created -- including tubes, bags, miniature urine warmers, flow valves and tape. The kits let customers surreptitiously substitute his urine for theirs -- even if they're being watched, he claims.

In April 2001, he was arrested. Shortly after that, he moved his company to Hendersonville. And he kept selling urine online until December, when South Carolina Circuit Court Judge John Few barred...