Source
reveeOPNo half measures•

I must say I find it somewhat insulting that AMC would misinform in BrBa this much about the Czech Republic. They are very strict about their facts otherwise which makes this to be a very unfortunate presentation of the country... The fact is, BrBa makes us look really bad without a reason or factual evidence.

According to what Lydia says every 20th person you meet here does meth which is obviously bullshit. The original link leads to European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug addiction and it says under the Prevalence part that Czech Republic has about 24 600 - 25 900 meth users.

The link to the whole study (ENG PDF, page 56 is most relevant): http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_143743_EN_EMCDDA_AR2011_EN.pdf

There is also this link to another study from 2010 on the website of Czech government that says we have 28,2 thousands of meth users (meth is called pervitin here).

Link (Czech PDF, page 9 line 3): http://www.vlada.cz/assets/ppov/protidrogova-politika/media/vz_o_stavu_ve_vecech_drog_v_cr_2010_CZ_www-n.pdf

Overall I would like people not take the facts from BrBa seriously and rather rely on official statistics from the government or the European Union's organs. Czech Republic really benefits from tourism nd it has a lot to offer in this area as well, it would be very sad if Breaking Bad made Czech Republic look to the rest of the world as a drug slum.

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reveeOPNo half measures•

To provide some additional information:

  • we share most of our borders with Germany
  • we are in the EU since 2004
  • we are considered a developed country since 2006
  • our GDP per capita is at about 85% of the EU's average which is really good for a post-communist country
  • our public debt to GDP ratio is only around 41%
  • And we have really great sights :P.
1
alpacafox•

I live in Germany but I was born in the Czech Republic... so I was kinda stunned by that statement and couldn't believe it. That's why I went on reddit to check out if anyone feels the same way... thanks for the info.

1
alpacafox•

I just saw a report on the news on tv about dramatic rise of crystal smuggling at the czech border and that the czech authorities are busting about 400 meth labs every year...

So it looks like there's really going on something crazy in the CR... they even showed on hidden cam how they just buy some crystal at one of those vietnamese markets..

1
korre314•

Breaking Bad didn't Make Czech Republic a drug slam country in my eyes. Czech Republic made it self.

Marijuana 15 grams (or five plants)
Hashish 5 grams
Magic mushrooms 40 pieces
Peyote 5 plants
LSD 5 tablets
Ecstasy 4 tablets
Amphetamine 2 grams
Methamphetamine 2 grams
Heroin 1.5 grams
Coca 5 plants
Cocaine 1 gram

Think over this

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[deleted]•

What does this list mean? The small crime/big crime cut off?

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GreatNull•

Yes, its threshold between misdemeanor and felony.

1
korre314•

The legal substance you can have in czech

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ripped-and-torn•

It's not legal, however not a felony, you'll get only fined. But being liberal about it doesn't mean that high percent of population are doing drugs.

3
iwonderhowlongcanmyu•

This.

I'm watching the episode right now, from the Czech Republic. I went to r/breakingbad literally 10 seconds after that scene ended to check whether someone posted something about it.
We might have somewhat lenient drug laws, but 5% of the population? Seriously? I don't really even find it insulting, just baffling.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to research the correct facts. And sorry you got downvoted.

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GoodTimesWithMeth•

Maybe Lydia lied in order to extend her usefulness, who knows where she's actually shipping the goods.

1
JasonT26The Cook•

This is one of those moments where you have to ask yourself "Who gives a shit?" Seriously, you're "insulted" about stupid shit like this? Grow the fuck up.

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[deleted]•

I would be insulted too. I went to visit Prague 5 years ago. There were a fair share of hustlers and scam artists around, but they were fairly easily ignored if you weren't a pollyanna so I always thought I'd visit again. When I heard the 1 in 20 stat in this episode - it made me swear off another visit. If the stat is way off, it does a disservice.

3