In the popular television show Breaking Bad, the main character, Walter White, cooks and sells methamphetamine in order to leave behind money for his family after learning of his terminal lung cancer.
The pilot to the series does an excellent job of portraying methamphetamine in ways that evidence suggests is true. Most illegal methamphetamine in the United States is cooked in small “stovetop” labs that may only exist for a few days in a remote location. (Drugs, Society & Human Behavior, pg. 135). Walter and Jesse Pinkman, his lowlife addict assistant, purchase an RV to drive to the remote desert region of New Mexico to cook the illicit meth. Before Walter and Jessie became cooking partners, Jesse and his old partner Emilio would cook impure
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Viewers may see the little exposure the character Jesse has had to higher education and think that if he can make meth and get away with it, then so can I. The truth is many amateur cooks attract the attention of agencies, like the DEA, when their make shift labs go up in flames from chemical explosions. Expanding on the effect of the DEA, Breaking Bad gives an accurate portrayal of how tirelessly the agency works to stop the manufacturing and selling of methamphetamine in the United States. Jesse’s home is raided by Walter’s brother-in-law’s DEA sector and Emilio is put in jail. The agents wear gas masks to protect them against possible phosphine gas radiation and carry guns in case of resistance of arrest. These factors could make anyone thinking about or currently producing meth re-check their priorities. The possibility of long prison sentencing and the violence that comes along with the trade may make people think twice before entering the world of methamphetamine. Although the pilot does not give a direct example of an individual consuming meth, later episodes portray multiple individuals accurately absorbing the drug through oral, intranasal, intravenous and smoking methods. These episodes could stick in the viewers subconscious and may be later recovered if the individual encounters an opportunity to try methamphetamine. These images could also induce a