‘Meth gator’ warning has valid point
Sense of humor gets message home about drug disposal
Some headlines just grab your attention and stay with you — but there’s a reason such headlines are important.
For example: “Police: Tossing drugs in toilet could lead to ‘meth-gators.’” Weird, but it caught your attention, right? Then one reads the first paragraph of the story, written by the Associated Press: “Police in Tennessee are asking residents not to toss drugs down the toilet, saying it could lead to “meth-gators” and stoned waterfowl.”
The police note that flushed drugs could make their way to ponds visited by ducks and geese — “we shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do,” and noted that if the drugs made their way downstream, “we could create meth-gators” in north Alabama, the AP reports.
Funny, right? But it is an effective way to get a point across.
When you have to dispose of leftover prescription medication, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) notes there are ways to do it that protect both people and the environment.
When one flushes drugs down the toilet, those drugs have the potential to pass through sewage treatment plants and septic tanks and contaminate groundwater and soil, ADEQ reports.
Instead, people should take the drugs to a safe drug disposal drop box. The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office and the Yuma, Wellton, San Luis and Somerton Police Departments all have such drop boxes. The program is anonymous, and people are encouraged to remove personal information from the containers.
However, the challenge here is, illegal drugs, like meth, are not accepted at these drop boxes. So what do you do if you find illegal drugs?
The Yuma Sun reached out to YPD Sgt. Lori Franklin, who said the best idea is to call YPD and report the discovery of illegal drugs. YPD will then send an officer over to retrieve the drugs. There are no consequences for doing so — it’s just a safer way for the officers to get the drugs, rather than a member of the public actually touching the drugs. Given the dangers of fentanyl, that makes sense.
Whatever you do, that police department in Tennessee has a point (and a sense of humor!). Keep the drugs out of the water supply, and dispose of them safely.