Breaking Bad Alaska – Meth Lab Accidents Down
Well done Alaska! We finally did it!
Meth lab accidents are down in the state from a whopping 121 in 2004 to a single incident in 2012.
We’re not sure if it was something the state and feds did, or just your friendly neighborhood meth dealers being influenced by the safety concerns of Walter White from Breaking Bad… but either way WELL DONE! You all deserve a yellow safety-gloved pat on the back. Let’s keep it up.
hat tip to Buzzfeed
source: DEA
What’s with Missouri in those stats? A convenient distribution point?
As a “Feel Good” release from the DEA, this information really knocks it out of the ballpark.Yea! Hooray! We’re winning the war against meth makers and meth heads! Woo-hoo! And, Huzzah!
Unfortunately, as an accurate picture of meth manufacturing in the country and of actual meth use, it’s an abject: FAIL! First, off, it tracks only “incidents” (ie ‘accidents’/explosions) occurring at meth sites…not the total number of sites, themselves. And secondly, wait! …there is no “secondly”. It’s completely meaningless.
Reports like this really tick me off. They give such a false sense of ‘accomplishment’ and a totally false picture of what is really happening out there. Not good! Meth ‘labs’ are increasing in numbers; they’re merely empty one-liter plastic soda bottles and assorted chemicals mixed in the right google-able proportions, nowadays. And the ‘lab site’ is more often than not, the back seat of a car. Snap to set up, cheap to run, minimum risk (all things considered), ginormous profit. Law enforcement can’t stop them. And all the ‘feel good’ reports in the world don’t change that fact or change the number of meth addicts we have. Arrrgh!
Ya’ know, I’m getting to be an old lady…I don’t need stuff like this, stuff like these damn ‘feel good’ reports, stuff like this utterly meaningless waste-of-work-hours-to-compile junk, torking me off. Nor do I need them lulling others into thinking we’re actually ‘beating back the monster’. Double Arrrgh! beth.
I’m with you, Beth. The OTHER thing that ticks me off is that the “war on drugs” is really just an excuse for the militarization of our police force. I just finished reading Radley Balko’s superb book, “Rise of the Warrior Cop,” and in it he breaks down the proliferation of SWAT, no-knock warrant service, the terrorization and traumatization of innocent people (when they break into the wrong house), and the murder of dogs as well as people.
The increase in meth manufacture is largely tied to all the good manufacturing/union jobs having disappeared, with outsourcing and offshoring. If there was any work building cars or smelting steel, even old-fashioned coal mining (as opposed to mountaintop removal, which is done by very few people), it’s unlikely these people would resort to cooking to keep a roof over their heads and their families in groceries.
Actually- if you track back to the DEA site and look ( way too hard to find though) at “Statistics and Facts” page AND go read some of the reports from Monitoring the Future- meth use has declined a fair amount in the last few years across most age groups.
Also too- there is interesting stuff about regions of the country and population density as relates to use.
Maybe we are beating the monster. Possibly we are.
I do agree that this is a narrow window on what is going on .
For me, the DEA has a tainted reputation . Too many ifs, ands, or buts needed to qualify what the agency is really doing or has accomplished in its multiple missions.
Like Zyx , I am appalled at the militarization of many police functions and the gravity of mistakes made there.
However, I don’t lay that shift fully on the DEA. Many, too many folks in this country, wanted some or all of the stoopidity we see too much of these last few years. The endless tough-on-crime crap people have voted for or pushed their legislators , state and federal, to enact has come home to roost and it ain’t pretty.
All the while that studies and experiments were showing sensible drug courts were a reasonable, cost-effective possibility for taking care of a number of the problems associated with drug use, folks were running around yelling lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key at the top of their voting voices. The war-on-drugs dealie has multiple co-signers and everyday Americans number astonishingly high in the lists.
And THAT is too often from the “othering” of drug offenders/users via a whole lot of shaky rationales.
It doesn’t say there are Fewer meth labs or less meth use. it just says there are less accidents
Do NOT tell me what’s happening on Breaking Bad; I don’t have cable TV and am catching up via DVD. If you like the BB theme song, check this out:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/the-breaking-bad-theme-song-played-with-meth-lab-equipment
iowa has any number of unused rural building sites with grain facilities and propane storage tanks. Propane is used to make meth and the buildings make perfect spots for a meth lab because of low traffic levels at night and sometimes long distances from habitated sites. Other meth ingredients are carefully monitored,especially ether(starting fluid) and portable propane tanks. Most of the sites are discovered after the meth is made and sold.
Maybe regulating sudafed was a good idea. And educating the public about the dangers.
I would be interested to know whether meth use has also been cut in half nationwide. If meth use is still high, then maybe all we did was outsource the production to other countries.
Sadly the report only talks about meth lab accidents… doesn’t speak to usage.