The Faces of Meth

joeychitwood · #1 05/13/2005, 05:06 PM

A sheriff's deputy in Portland, Oregon has started a collection of the mug shots of people before and after months to years of methamphetamine addiction. The photos are posted on the Sheriff's Office website and were also featured on CBS News. If you look in their eyes, as the deputy notes, in the first photo "there's life in their eyes. Then you switch to the second picture and that life is gone. Look at their eyes. Their soul seems to have left their body."

Reefmaniac1 · #2 05/13/2005, 05:08 PM

Sick...

elpezpr · #3 05/13/2005, 05:10 PM

Sad

Wee Man · #4 05/13/2005, 05:13 PM

thats what that crap does to you

dc · #5 05/13/2005, 05:16 PM

Scary, but sad. Unfortunately I know a few people that these pictures apply to.

salty toes · #6 05/13/2005, 05:23 PM

hilarious

I do not feel an ounce of sadness for anyone who chooses to do drugs......

I grew up around it, saw it around me EVERYWHERE, and finally began to hate everyone that is addicted to the crap the day one of them beat my mother to rob her of a few dollars

let them all die a slow miserable death.......

and for those of you who will say "you wouldn't say that if is was a close family member"

well I have a cousin whos been in and out of rehab about 5 times, You know what i say to the rest of my family "freak him"

everyone is exactly where they wanna be.

dinoman · #7 05/13/2005, 05:51 PM

Scary...I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that kind of stuff. Just plain stupid to me...

gtrestoration · #8 05/13/2005, 06:07 PM

I think that's the risk of having it available. You may not think you're at risk to become hooked. Some personalities are just more likely to become addicted and much may depend on the what else is going on in your life.
This is why education is so important and early discovery of the abuse may still not be of any value.
I for one feel not only for those addicted but also for the family and friends that must deal with it on a daily basis, wondering what to do or what they did wrong.

SteveU

TheBimbo · #9 05/13/2005, 06:56 PM

Hmmm, very accurate photos... It's a real shame

... I too know people that are addicts of different things, and those photos are just too real... I really don't have time in my life for people that use drugs, and thieve, and the worst give up on their kids...

I refuse to feel sorry for people that do this, sorry but I have grown up around it and I know first hand that you have choices, and I chose to have a life...

TheBimbo

dc · #10 05/13/2005, 07:03 PM

I feel for everybody around them tho. Too many innocent people pay for loving them.

Freed · #11 05/13/2005, 07:06 PM

I agree with salty toes. Tragic but hey, that's where they want to be.

gtrestoration · #12 05/13/2005, 07:07 PM

Bimbo... I agree, but my son must deal with this issue as long as he lives. He's 25 and the father on my two Grandchildren, my personal concern stopped when the court gave me full custody of him when he was 5. For him it will never end and hince that's why I show the compassion that I do.

Steve

TheBimbo · #13 05/13/2005, 07:09 PM

I agree with you Debi, but one of the hardest things I ever did was to put my own brother in jail... He stole money from my parents Bar, I caught him... I called the cops, then went and told my mom and dad what I busted him doing... I had to testify in court and everything... It was a hard thing to do, but atleast I gave him almost a year free of drugs!!!

TheBimbo

BrianD · #14 05/13/2005, 07:29 PM

Thanks for the pictures Joey. I can't imagine a bigger problem our country faces right now than meth.

CrystalAZ · #15 05/13/2005, 07:37 PM

Wow, very sad. I saw the one photo (2 1/2 years) on Oprah today, as they talked about this subject.

I disagree with letting them die a slow death. This stuff changes the brain chemistry so much that after starting the drugs, the original person isn't even there anymore.

And it isn't where they WANT to be. It starts that way, but one of the ladies on Oprah (a 24 year old who looked 40!) explained that eventually it didn't even feel good anymore, but she couldn't stop.

I do know someone who was addicted for several years. She lost her kids and everything else in her life. Rehab worked for her and she is remarried, working a steady job, and a couple years into reestablishing a normal life. She only slipped once and it scared her so much to know how easily she could go back to where she was, she has stayed completely clean since.

I am very proud of her and she is proof that there IS a road back. She says that she has learned so many coping skills now, that she actually never craves the drug anymore!

Crystal

dc · #16 05/13/2005, 07:44 PM

I've seen people come back, but more not. I know my brother has been in prison 5? times. Talks a great story while he's in prison, rarely makes it home without getting high. I told him the last time I wrote him I couldn't deal with him, I'd always love him but I didn't like him, and hoped he didn't meet his son in prison. He's 14 now.

FishPerson · #17 05/13/2005, 09:35 PM

hrmmmm, yeah that is kinda odd....you know the people look like all the life was sucked out of them or something...some look bad in the "before" pic..sad...

drugs kill

hubris007 · #18 05/13/2005, 09:44 PM

There's a similar one i was trying to find that had the progression of a crack ho over 10 years. Had about 20 pics of the progression from decent looking to....well, ya know....

Dannyboy17 · #19 05/13/2005, 10:04 PM

Meth? Crystal Meth? Or is that something different?

--Dan

dinoman · #20 05/14/2005, 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by hubris007
There's a similar one i was trying to find that had the progression of a crack ho over 10 years. Had about 20 pics of the progression from decent looking to....well, ya know....

I think I saw something similiar on EBaum's. Might have to give a looksy through there...

joeychitwood · #21 05/14/2005, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dannyboy17
Meth? Crystal Meth? Or is that something different? --Dan

Methamphetamine, which can be cooked up in a car trunk, trailer house, fish house or motel room using ammonia, pseudoephedrine, ether and red phosphorous.

Chronic users can exhibit violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, paranoia, hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions. The reason so many of the faces on Page One have scabs and marks is because of the sensation of insects creeping on the skin (formication.)

Up to 50 percent of the dopamine-producing cells in the brain can be damaged after prolonged use. They also have found that serotonin-containing nerve cells may be damaged even more extensively. Thus, meth users suffer permanent, non-reversible brain damage after a short time.

joeychitwood · #22 05/14/2005, 05:20 AM

I took this photo a few weeks ago. "Meth mouth" occurs because the saliva flow decreases drastically, causing an overgrowth of bacteria and severe dental decay and gingivitis. This guy had used meth for about five years.

dinoman · #23 05/14/2005, 05:35 AM

Here is another "progression" type thing

Link

hubris007 · #24 05/14/2005, 07:42 AM

Man chitwood, that's NASTY. And this from a guy that spends half his days doing gingival reconstruction on dogs.

FishPerson · #25 05/14/2005, 08:22 AM

hrmmm