Faces of Meth

[pirtybirdy]

Saw these pictures of people who had snapshots taken either before or just in the beginning stages of being a meth head. Then they show pictures of what they look like after a couple or few years of abuse/addiction. Holy Moley!

http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/0,4644,3728,00.html#1_0

[faceless]

Who'd have thought it would be so damaging to their hairstyles?

[pirtybirdy]

[Skylace]

I had to do a whole big training on how to identify meth addicts. I didn't find it too hard

[luke]

[Skylace]

[luke]

thanks, yeah i thought it was that stuff, but there seems to be so many different new drugs about now i don't think that stuff has caught on over here ... not that i know off anyway

[nekokate]

I'm confused now because people are saying you can make it at home. I thought you could just buy it in the shops, you don't need to make it, or am I thinking of something else.

Meth is methelated spirits, right? You can walk into any hardware store and buy a huge tub of it. You're meant to use it to remove paint and varnish from shit, but you can just pour some in a plastic bag and breathe into the bag.

Is "meth" something else in America that needs to be "made"?

[faceless]

Meth is methamphetamine - manufactured using ethedrine (a common ingredient in cold remedies and asthma inhalers which is amphetamine based). Meths is methylated spirit...

[SpursFan1902]

It's methamphetamine (sp)...speed...crystal meth...all of the above. Some pretty scary stuff.

[nekokate]

[girldorksrule]

[maycm]

They should show these pictures to some kids in school....that'd soon out them off even thining of trying it.

[Skylace]

[luke]

From drugs to mugs: Shocking before and after photos show how drug addiction takes devastating toll on faces of users

These shocking before and after images reveal in stark and simple terms the cost drug addiction takes on the human face.

'From Drugs to Mugs' is the follow up to the controversial 2004 'Faces of Meth' release which highlighted the effects of methamphetamine use.

Released in the hope that they will make kids think twice about ever touching drugs the pictures show how addicts have lost teeth and scratched their skin to the bone.


Shocking before and after photos taken 10 months apart show the toll drugs have taken on the face of a methamphetamine user

The new photographs show the first arrest of a drug user partnered up with a picture taken in some cases only three months later.

They have been put together by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in Oregon and now include users of all hard drugs including cocaine, heroin and meth.

'Faces of Meth went round the world, it captured peoples revulsion and imagination,' said deputy Bret King, 45, who was instrumental in putting together the original Faces of Meth project in 2004.

'As I was putting together the project and touring the country trying to highlight the effects of meth on people, I had a nagging feeling that I knew I wasn't bringing the whole picture to people's attention.

'Every single person I booked and interviewed who was not just a meth addict but a heroin user or a coke-head had started on some seemingly innocent drug like alcohol or cannabis.

'Everyone experiments at college or school and I want From Drugs to Mugs to show kids that everyone in those pictures started on cannabis, they didn't just dive head first into heroin.

'So I ask the students at schools to look at these people and think about their actions, otherwise that could end up being you,' said deputy King.


From Drugs to Mugs is the follow up to the controversial 2004 Faces of Meth programme, which was also instigated by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in Oregon


A video made by the From Drugs to Mugs programme makers is going to be shown in high schools across the U.S. in attempt to dissuade students from trying drugs

Faced with an endemic drug problem in the north west of the U.S., the Multnomah Sheriff's Office has also produced a heart-wrenching educational documentary to aid in its fight against young people turning to drugs.

'I want to be able to illustrate the connection between that first decision to use drugs and then down the road when it's a horrible mess,' said deputy King.

Expanding their presentation, which is to be aired in high schools across America, the law enforcement officer and his team interviewed 300 adult inmates at Multnomah County's Inverness Jail.

'We estimate that out of the 2000 or so inmates here over half have tried and used hard drugs,' said King.

'The average age of those surveyed for From Drugs to Mugs claimed they tried their first drugs or alcohol at the age of 12. Out of those 300, 117 said their first drug experience was initiated by a parent, 36 said it was an older sibling or cousin, aunt, uncle or even grandparent.

'Also, 119 said their first drug experience was from a friend and one said it was their babysitter. These are stark statistics but what we wanted to show was the correlation between drug abuse and crime.

'In all we realised that 3,975 arrests could be attributed to these 300 inmates, some of which could be attributed to drugs and some not directly.

'However, drug abuse was an overriding factor in their lives and on average between those 300 they shared 13.25 arrests per inmate.'


Deputy Bret King hopes the hard-hitting campaign featuring before and after photos and also a video featuring inmate's interviews will put high school students off experimenting with drugs


The photographs of this methamphetamines user were taken three years apart, but some instances, there was a noticeable decline in as little as three months

By far the starkest images that deputy King and his team produce are the mug shots of drug users at the time of their first arrest and their resulting physical deterioration.

'I don't own a house, I don't own an apartment, I don't have a banking account, I have zero money, I don't have nothing to show from my time on earth...' said one drug user, interviewed in prison for From Drugs to Mugs.

'Drugs and alcohol has led to me having nothing today,' added the inmate.

'This is a battle for peoples hearts, their minds and ultimately their spirits,' said Agent Tyree.

'If I could put each and every kid who thought about using drugs in a room with a drug dealer, a drug addict, a judge, a prosecutor and a parent, maybe not even their own parent, they would all say the same thing, 'don't do it kid.''


'I want to be able to illustrate the connection between that first decision to use drugs and then down the road when it's a horrible mess,' said deputy Bret King

In the 48-minute video, Drug Enforcement Administration officers are interviewed about how they find and arrest drug abusers.

Deputy King added testimony from Multnomah County jail inmates who had been arrested in burglaries and other crimes that have been linked to drug use.

'We want everyone, not just high school kids to look at these pictures and to be shocked,' said deputy King.

'I'd like From Drugs to Mugs to gain the notoriety Faces of Meth did because it's a better programme. It's likely to impact the decisions of more people.

'I used to go through booking pictures and see the deterioration of these individuals and that is what shocked me into producing Faces of Meth and now From Drugs to Mugs.

'People think that drug enforcement and the battle against drugs is a bit blasé and boring but it isn't.

"Everyone should be reminded of the dangers of drugs, especially when so many casually take them.'


The photograph on the left was taken in January 2008 and the photograph on the right was taken in August 2008, showing how rapidly the drugs can take their toll


'Everyone experiments at college or school and I want From Drugs to Mugs to show kids that everyone in those pictures started on cannabis, they didn't just dive head first into heroin,' said Deputy King

Perhaps the most heart-wrenching portion of the new video is an interview with Washington County Judge Tom Kohl, whose daughter Meghan, a meth user, was murdered in 2006 at the age of 21 in connection with her drug habit.

Through teary eyes, Judge Kohl recalls Meghan's happy childhood, as well as the night when police officers arrived at his door to tell him his daughter was dead.

It is deputy King's hope that the video will show teens how easy it is to fall into drug habits.

'I miss watching the sun come up, I miss the normal stuff... I missed out on a normal life and I know that,' explained another resigned drug user from inside his prison cell.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1360586/From-drugs-mugs-shocking-photos-drug-addiction-takes-toll.html