Breaking Bad was a popular and critically acclaimed television series that aired on AMC from 2008 to 2013. You can still find old episodes on the Netflix streaming service and people are still talking about the program.

The series featured Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a chemistry teacher who manufactures methamphetamine (meth). Breaking Bad depicted how the drug changed his life, the lives of the people around him, and the lives of the people who made, dealt, and used the substance.

For example, the program featured a prostitute who abused meth. While Breaking Bad is a fictional program, drug-addicted prostitutes are very real. Abusing the drug might cause some people to lose everything, so they turn to dangerous and illegal activities such as prostitution to support their habits. Or, people might force people to use drugs such as meth to make them more vulnerable in order to force them into prostitution or other dangerous and illegal pursuits.

One major character on the program, Jesse Pinkston (played by Aaron Paul), enters the world of meth because of his association with other drugs. That’s because Pinkston’s high school chemistry teacher was Walter White. White learns that his former student is involved in drug manufacturing and recruits Pinkston to help him with his criminal enterprise.

The popularity of Breaking Bad helped launch conversations about meth and drug use. People wondered if the program glorified drug manufacturers, dealers, and users, because the show prominently featured all three.

But, again, the show featured drug-addicted prostitutes and people who died because of their involvement with drugs. It depicted the clear consequences that close contact with the drug could create. Although there are Breaking Bad-related Halloween costumes and candy that looks like methamphetamine, the program shows that the drug is not fun or a joke. It creates misery, not enjoyment.