This is not The Onion, but an actual public safety notice issued by police in Louisiana. The Harahan Police Department is asking people who might have crystal meth in their possession to get it tested for the deadly Zika Virus by bringing it to their local police station.
The invitation and warning was posted to the department’s Facebook page to spread awareness of the “threat” while offering “test” batches of meth “for free” at their department, and further advising all state residents possibly in possession of crystal methamphetamine to bring it to a local police department.
And in what appears the most epic police attempt yet at uncovering and busting meth labs across the state, the department goes so far as to offer a home visit for “those not comfortable going to the police station.” The post is signed Officer Moody.
The Harahan Police Department announcement adds to the dubitable offer:
For those not comfortable going to the police station, if you make the call, an officer will be glad to come to you and test your Meth in the privacy of your home. Please spread the word!
We can only imagine the paranoid and hilarious conversations to ensue among area meth producers and addicts. Perhaps police will have the “success” stories later posted online as well in the form of police reports and mug shots?
It turns out that it is a tongue-in-cheek tactic to fight the dangerous drug epidemic involving the homemade ultra-addictive substance that came to greater national attention by the hit series Breaking Bad. Other police departments over the past few years have tried it, apparently with little to no results, though surely it gets a big laugh at police stations — especially on the rare occasion that someone just might actually bring their meth to police.
For example, police in a small Michigan town once tried to same thing with almost the exact same post:
Bailey said he put it out as a joke, but said the post has drawn attention to crystal meth and other drug issues.
“Crystal meth is poison. It’s evil. Anything that will take a mother’s love from a child is a bad drug. Anything that will make a man lose custody of his children and not be able to see them is evil. Yeah, we’re going to combat it any way we can,” Bailey said.
Bailey said no one has turned in their meth, yet.
And another public “Zika warning” related to meth out of Ohio drew national attention years ago, but with no results, perhaps just a lot of laughs, per CNN:
Can meth really be a host for Zika? No, the virus is primarily transmitted through the bite of an infected female Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Has anyone taken the police up on their offer? No.
So what, then? “Make a catchy post, people see it, people share it,” Assistant Police Chief Dennis Blankenship said.
Meanwhile, in Idaho…
Nope…i’m not falling for it again.
Other past public notices have involved “testing Meth for Gluten” for those needing to go with Gluten-free meth.
If the police are going to attempt to “fool” the public, we only ask that should they actually make a meth bust via a gullible dealer calling them for a “home visit” to a makeshift lab on some remote country property, that they film and document every moment of it for posterity.
via RSS http://bit.ly/2CHnzYR Tyler Durden