In a hugely irresponsible move, Michigan cops post false info about Zika to try to catch meth users

Police in the township of Bath, Michigan have been playing odd games with public safety by posting a fake “Breaking News” bulletin that warns, “we have read reports about meth possibly containing the Zika virus.”

This article was originally published by The Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow The Influence on Facebook or Twitter.

Their Facebook post encourages people to come down to the police station to let them test it: “We DO NOT want this to happen to you. If you recently bought some meth, you can bring it into the Bath Township Police Department and we can test it for you. Your safety is our #1 priority!”

Very droll. But given the current prevalence of unfounded and harmful conspiracy theories around health issues, such as the anti-vaccination movement, it’s probably not a good time for local law enforcement to post false information about Zika—even if it is in the noble cause of trying to arrest people who use the street version of Adderall.