Will methamphetamines become legal in Haralson County, Georgia by the end of 2018? No, that's not true: the only site spreading that news is a prank website where somebody uploaded a two sentence joke article. It is not real.
The story originated from an article published on Channel24News on July 10, 2018 titled "Meth to be legalized in haralson county GA - Channel 24 News" (archived here) which opened:
The household drug of choice may now be legal for sale by the end of 2018 in the west Georgia community. Voters will decide the fate of the overnight weight loss drug this fall.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Meth to be legalized in haralson county GA - Channel 24 News
The household drug of choice may now be legal for sale by the end of 2018 in the west Georgia community. Voters will decide the fate of the overnight weight loss drug this fall.
The site is part of a network of prank sites operated by Korry Scherer from Milwaukee, WI. according to WHOIS data. The site lets visitors create their own realistic looking fake news stories to prank friends and family.
The site seems to be part of a network of similar sites. So far we've found these, but there may be others:
- channel22news.com
- channel23news.com
- channel24news.com
- channel28news.com
- channel33news.com
- channel34news.com
- channel40news.com
- channel45news.com
- channel46news.com
The sites all come with disclaimers at the bottom of each prank:
We do NOT support FAKE NEWS!!! This is a Prank website that is intended for Fun. Bullying, Violent Threats or posts that Violate Public Order are NOT permitted on this Website.
We wrote about channel24news.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
