Breaking Bad: Interactive map shows how close Americans have lived to a meth lab

• There have been 15,315 meth labs in American over the past decade.
• The average potency of crystal meth in the United States is 58%.
• Check the locations meth labs across the country HERE.

It’s no secret that America is suffering from a continuing drug epidemic throughout the country. As highlighted by the TV series, Breaking Bad, setting up a meth lab can be a relatively small and straightforward process – yet also one that can wreak havoc on the lives of those involved and the communities around them.

An extensive study by American Addiction Centers Resource, Rehabs.com, has uncovered the scale of the meth problem on both a national and more localized scale. The use of methamphetamine or ‘crystal meth’ as is more commonly known, has caused widespread alarm in recent years – a nationwide problem which has surged somewhat surprisingly as authorities thought they had conquered the drug years ago in the early 2000s.

The study analyzed the thousands of meth lab busts and seizures across the nation, tracking geographical and chronological trends of the resurgent threat. Rehabs.com created an interactive map, based on the last decade of data so that readers can see how close they have lived to a meth lab. The drug can be produced using inexpensive chemicals found in over-the-counter medication and is often made inside seemingly inconspicuous buildings, which may be located in remote locations or suburban neighborhoods. In many cases, neighbors may be blissfully unaware that they live near the site of a meth manufacturing operation… That is until an error in the meth ‘cooking’ operation occurs which can produce a deadly explosion.

The study revealed that over the past decade in the United States, there were 271 meth labs per 100k citizens (approx. 15,315 clandestine labs).Rehabs.com created an interactive map where you can enter your address and find out where the nearest meth lab used to be. Detroit residents, for example, have lived within 6.89 miles from a lab on average. Breaking Bad fans may also be surprised to discover that New Mexico saw relatively few lab meth lab operations in comparison to many other states – just 175 – considering the setting of the show in Albuquerque.

In other data analyzed, it was revealed that that the average potency of crystal-meth seized across the country was 58%. A whopping national average of 15032521,69 net grams of meth was seized in 2016.

‘It’s startling to see that so many meth labs have existed in seemingly safe, family-friendly neighborhoods across the country,’ says Ruchi Dhami, Director Of Brand at Rehabs.com. ‘Perhaps if just as many accessible rehabilitation facilities were present, these numbers would be lower.’