'Meth-gators' aren't real, Tennessee police say after viral post. At least not 'at this time'

Isabel Lohman
A post from a Tennessee police department that warned residents flushing drugs could create meth-gators went viral last week. They were joking.

A Tennessee police department has clarified that they were joking when they suggested "meth-gators" are possible when folks flush their drugs down the toilet.

"Let us be perfectly clear: the meth gator was a humorous illustration used to highlight the dangers of flushing drugs and other substances down your toilet," the Loretto Police Department said on Facebook on Friday. "Alas, the meth-gator is not real. Let's say that again: THE METH GATOR IS NOT (at this time) REAL."

The department had warned residents not to flush drugs down the toilet, citing fears that wildlife might consume them and exhibit unnatural behaviors. The July 13 Facebook post has since gone viral.

"Ducks, Geese, and other fowl frequent our treatment ponds and we shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do," the post read. "Furthermore, if it made it far enough we could create meth-gators in Shoal Creek and the Tennessee River down in North Alabama."

Methed-up gators and ducks and geese: Tennessee police warn against flushing drugs down the toilet

The police chief has given interviews to news outlets all over the world, the department said Friday, and "fielded a few calls from professionals fearing we actually had a meth influenced gator in our custody."

The department hopes to use the attention to raise money for a local charity that deals with children affected by drugs. Police plan to launch a website selling shirts featuring the meth-gator.

While you shouldn't flush drugs — whether they're illicit like meth or regular items like leftover prescriptions — they do get diluted once in the water, making it pretty much impossible for an animal to get high.

It's possible any drug can persist in water for some time, said University of Tennessee-Knoxville professor and environmental microbiologist Frank Loeffler. But that length of time is unknown.

Loeffler said there's limited research on what happens to animals when trace amounts of the drugs people take everyday end up back in the water system after being flushed from our bodies.

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And while you shouldn't expect a drug to have the same effect on an animal as it would on a person, it's possible that a drug can disrupt an animals' endocrine system.

Loeffler said scientists understand the effects of drugs in high concentrations, but it's much harder to know what happens with low-concentration exposure.

Louis Gross, ecology and evolutionary professor at the University of Tennessee, also said significant amounts of illegal and legal drugs could have a negative impact on sensitive critters such as amphibians.

But they don't think that's happening right now.

The FDA has a list of certain drugs that can be flushed down the toilet. For drugs where that is not advised, you can dispose of them in your household trash.

The FDA has specific tips on this, but you should make sure to remove the drug from the original container and mix it with something undesirable, like cat litter.

It's also important to scratch out any personal information that might be on an empty medicine packaging to protect your identity and privacy.

Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg and Kristin Lam, USA TODAY

Follow Isabel Lohman on Twitter: @isalohgo

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: 'Meth-gators' aren't real, police say, but still: Don't flush drugs