Breaking Bad sparked crystal meth surge, claims professor
Popular show about teacher-turned-drug-dealer Walter White boosts appeal of meth, says expert
The award-winning television show Breaking Bad has been blamed for a rise in crystal meth use across the UK and Europe.
Professor Ellis Cashmore, an author on celebrity and media culture from Staffordshire University, believes the US drama has promoted interest in the drug.
In the UK, Home Office figures show that at least 17,000 people are believed to have used crystal meth in 2013, while border patrols in the UK have seen a 400 per cent rise in attempts to smuggle methamphetamine into the country.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Germany has seen the highest surge in Europe, with a 51 per cent rise in use.
Cashmore says that having a popular TV show with the drug at the centre of its storyline would instantly boost its appeal, reports the Daily Telegraph.
"Although the show does not go out to glamorise the drug, its very inclusion promotes interest in that substance," he says. "The fact it is a central premise to almost the entire series would serve to boost this interest for people who perhaps had not encountered it before."
The show, which has won 16 Emmys and two Golden Globes, stars Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who turns to drug dealing to secure his family’s finances before he dies of lung cancer.
"Even if a TV show, like Breaking Bad, portrays drugs in a negative aspect and shows its most destructive side, it will still appeal to somebody," says Cashmore. "Showing the horrendous impact of crystal meth can have a boomerang effect and cause curiosity among some viewers who might think ‘that must be good’."
Colonel Jackub Frydrych from the Czech Republic Police heads a team trying to disrupt the crystal meth trade in Prague, said to be the source of 95 per cent of all batches consumed in Europe. He says there are "booming markets" run by Vietnamese gangs based in the Czech Republic.
Police in the UK have discovered a number of meth labs, but the majority of the country’s supply is thought to have been smuggled in.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right (luckily)
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Sport on TV guide: Christmas 2022 and New Year listings
Speed Read Enjoy a feast of sporting action with football, darts, rugby union, racing, NFL and NBA
By Mike Starling Published
-
House of the Dragon: what to expect from the Game of Thrones prequel
Speed Read Ten-part series, set 200 years before GoT, will show the incestuous decline of Targaryen
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
One in 20 young Americans identify as trans or non-binary
Speed Read New research suggests that 44% of US adults know someone who is transgender
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Turner Prize 2022: a ‘vintage’ shortlist?
Speed Read All four artists look towards ‘growth, revival and reinvention’ in their work
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
What’s on TV this Christmas? The best holiday television
Speed Read From films and documentaries to musicals for all the family
By The Week Staff Published
-
Coco vision: up close to Chanel opticals
Speed Read Parisian luxury house adds opticals to digital offering
By The Week Staff Published
-
Abba returns: how the Swedish supergroup and their ‘Abba-tars’ are taking a chance on a reunion
Speed Read From next May, digital avatars of the foursome will be performing concerts in east London
By The Week Staff Published
-
‘Turning down her smut setting’: how Nigella Lawson is cleaning up her recipes
Speed Read Last week, the TV cook announced she was axing the word ‘slut’ from her recipe for Slut Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly
By The Week Staff Published