The Tennessee town of Loretto, which earlier this week inadvertently launched a viral joke about “meth gators,” has again informed the public that the police warning was, in fact, a joke, in case someone outside the town took it seriously, BBC reported Friday.
"People pay more attention [to police news] when they know there is a little humour,” notes Loretto Mayor Jesse Turner. Apparently, people paid attention, as Turner says he “can’t go anywhere without hearing something about meth gators."
I'm the Mayor of Loretto and cannot believe the traction that the "meth-gator" has gotten and the folks that actually believe it all word for word.
— Jesse E Turner (@Jesse_E_Turner) 16 июля 2019 г.
Scientists at Loyola University's Center for Environmental Communication in New Orleans say that the amount of drugs washed into sewers would have to be enormous to affect alligators living downstream from water processing plants.
"They can live through - it seems - almost anything," said Dr. Robert A Thoma, who added, "They seem to be unaffected lots of pollutants and the other things that they live around."
Earlier this week, Loretto police arrested a man who unsuccessfully tried to flush methamphetamine down the drain. Following the arrest, the police department published an announcement containing a joking plea not to flush methamphetamine into the sewer.
"When you send something down the sewer pipe it ends up in our retention ponds for processing before it is sent down stream...Our sewer guys take great pride in releasing water that is cleaner than what is in the creek, but they are not really prepared for meth,” the police said, adding that flushing drugs could create hyper-aggressive “meth-gators” in lakes and rivers.
Chiming in on the joke, the local library added that, "meth gators are not allowed in the library, unless they are registered service meth gators.
"Documentation may be required,” the Library added.
