Shocking before and after pictures of addiction

[Liberal_in_LA]

:scared: :scared: :scared:







Shocking mug shots reveal toll of drug abuse

In-your-face photos aim to scare teens straight by striking their vanity

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41787410/ns/health-addictions/

[Booster]

1. Good grief!!! That's really scary. And not much time between

the before and after pics. Thanks; I sent to everyone I know.

[pbrower2a]

23. Meth is deth, at least of apperance

Meth is to rural America what heroin and croak cocaine were to the Inner City.

The simple truth: it just isn't worth it.

[Texasgal]

2. How horrible.

I hope these people were able to find help.

Heartbreaking.

[Serve The Servants]

3. Reverse them to see the wonders of rehab N/T

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. True. On reality show 'Intervention', after 30 days in rehab the addicts looks have improved

GREATLY. really amazing.

[MindPilot]

5. Are we sure the first photos are the same guy?

I'm going to guess that's about 9 years of meth did that. Shit.

And I remain firmly convinced that if the "war on drugs" had not been waged on the American people, synthetic concoctions like meth and crack would never have existed.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. yes. Look at the wrinkle at the top of his nose, right side. identical

[hyphenate]

32. Alo, look at the interior part of his left eyebrow

It has a tiny "hook" on it in both pics. I questioned whether it was the same guy, too--a great many stories are written in his face. As are the women in each--I've known too many of those "second" faces--my sister's, at least, and many of her friends. It's often heartbreaking to see, as you know you can't really help them out, since they're not willing to do the right thing for themselves to get clean and sober.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Horse with no Name]

10. Why do you dismiss them as losers?

They are people in need of help...not scorn.

[Speck Tater]

14. You're right.

They might well respond to the right kind of help. My reflexive use of the term "loser" is something less than the Buddha's "wise speech".

I suppose if I were to defend my choice of words I could say something like "they are currently on a losing path", without implying that they are necessarily doomed to remain on that path. In that sense they may be acting the part of loser at the moment, but the next moment might well find them altering their course.

[Horse with no Name]

21. Thank you.

I knew you didn't mean it the other way.
:hug:

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Speck Tater]

47. By way of explanation and apology

Two years ago my ex-wife was diagnosed with lung cancer. Even though we'd been divorced for 15 years we were still friends. She had no family members nearby who could help her out so I took two years off from my own life to take care of her. I drove her to chemo, and CAT scans and doctor appointments, and I sat in the hospital with her as she went through one surgery after another. When she was no longer able to walk I built a wheel chair ramp to her front door and wheeled her around wherever she needed to go. I drove her to the ER at 2:00 AM when necessary, and in the end, I sat by her bedside holding her hand as she passed away just after this last Christmas.

In the process I got to know a lot of her fellow cancer patients at the cancer treatment center and I watched a lot of people die who deserved a longer life. So when I see people who throw their lives away it just pisses me off and so I called them "losers". I still don't know why my post was deleted. I didn't say anything inflammatory beyond calling people who throw their lives away losers.

Even though my remark might be understandable considering the context of my recent history, I did apologize for them, and agreed that they were uncalled for. I certainly get upset when someone who doesn't even know me or the circumstances of my life passes judgment on me, so I completely understand how someone else would get upset with me when I passed judgment on them, or perhaps on someone close to them.

[AlabamaLibrul]

8. Do we REALLY need to recycle years-old, long circulated "Faces of Meth" propaganda

from the ONDCP?

[emilyg]

15. You think it's propoganda? I know a

woman in her early 30's - withing 2 years of drug use she looks 60. On top of that she gives favors in strangers cars for money.

[AlabamaLibrul]

17. Yes, I think it's propaganda based on showing people as refuse instead of helping them n/t

[uppityperson]

18. Showing what can happen as a warning is what most of us see. I am sorry you see them as "refuse".

That is very sad.

[AlabamaLibrul]

19. I've looked at the whole program, not this article. It is the ONDCP who shows them as refuse n/t

[uppityperson]

20. Ah. I was talking about the pictures.

[roguevalley]

39. how do you know they weren't being helped? This may be the only

helpful thing these people can do to let others know this is as bad as it is.

[roguevalley]

38. its not propoganda. my niece is in police work and she sees this

every day. you are lost from the first hit. This should be a billboard in every town in America. SHEESH!

[Upton]

43. "you are lost from the first hit"

now THAT really is propaganda. Not saying it's a good idea to use meth, but to claim every first time user instantly becomes an addict is nothing but drug war BS..

[Horse with no Name]

9. One thing that is consistent in both pics

Sad, lost eyes in all pics.

Devastating, isn't it?

[nebenaube]

11. Yes kiddies...

This is what poor chemistry does. Meth isn't good for you even when it's made by Merch.

[old mark]

12. This is not funny. I knew a young woman who had just been released from prison

who took the time to get drunk and high before she reported to her probation officer. I was supposed to be her drug counsellor, but I never met her...she was arrested again about a month later-she had been living in a car with her "boyfriend" using crack and speed and drinking, robbing houses fo rmoney. She was pregnant all this time. Her baby was born in prison and lived almost 4 weeks. I saw her pic after her third or fourth trip through prison, and she looked like she was at least 60-most of her teeth and much of her hair gone, very skinny and sores all over her face. I believe she was about 26 at the time, and she died soon after that pic had been taken.
When I was supposed to meet her, she was 20.

Not too many laughs in there, huh?
mark

[Upton]

13. Drug war propaganda..

Extreme cases. Someone ought to tell that one woman it's not a good idea to tweak on your face..

Thing is, I could drive into town and find some alcoholics living under a bridge who look just as bad if not worse..

[Throd]

28. And your point is?

[roguevalley]

40. you are sad. so these are not acceptable but you will find some

others who are? All of this sucks. All of it is shit. These sad people are doing a public service to let others know this is a dead end.

[-..__...]

16. Wow...

glad to see Keith Richards health is improving...

[Cali_Democrat]

22. Yowza!

:scared:

[Jmaxfie1]

24. I know it might be propaganda, but still...

if it keeps kids off meth, then I really can't see it is that much of a bad thing. I agree with many of the posters though, putting people addicted to drugs in prison isn't helping anyone out. We need to get people treatment not put them in prison.

[upi402]

25. Nixon wanted to put addicts in treatment, not have a war on drugs

Can you believe it? He changed his mind tho.

[Jmaxfie1]

26. wow, to bad.

[JonLP24]

45. The problem with that

is if you exaggerate the effects like what is done to cannabis, that will lead them to trying out other drugs, because they realize the anti-drug warriors are telling lies when it is not necessary. I recall as teenager, I was scared to death to try cannabis because of all the horror stories. I tried it and I realized it isn't so bad, I figured the other drugs are like that. In my experience, drugs were never as bad as advertised.

As far as meth. I've seen that picture of the woman(where her face changes) almost my whole life but it never stopped me from trying it. I also heard it makes you feel like you got bugs crawling you and you're constantly picking at them. I NEVER, EVER had that feeling. It does lead to repetitive behavior, such as I would play with my facial hair a lot. Didn't have sores but that is because I still took regular showers.

Anyways, what I'm saying is the lies make it worse. Teens such as myself can figure out that these drugs(no matter how awful) are not as bad as the anti-drug warriors make it out to be. As far as to thee OP, I don't doubt these pictures are accurate but I would extend it to other harmful substances such as cocaine, heroin, etc. Not just meth. But our bodies are different and they react to chemicals different. While most people will have weight loss, some will have it to the point where their faces are sucked in, others will remain fat or will have no noticeable weight change. However I still look like I'm 12 years old but I haven't used meth for awhile now.

on edit-LOL, even the article talks about bugs crawling on you. That is BS.

[Aristus]

27. Not propaganda. It's the truth.

A number of my patients are recovering meth addicts. And they are all toothless ruins of human beings. Anything to scare people away from meth and other drugs is fine with me...

[bigmonkey]

31. No, not anything.

Truth, yes. Lies, propaganda, fascism, universal surveillance, breach of the rule of law - I can't get behind that.

[Occulus]

35. What lots of people don't understand is that lies and propaganda often work in reverse of the intent

"You lied to me about how bad this one is... what about all the others?"

This is why I get so very angry with people who lie about cannabis. It's harmless (or very nearly so), they say it's a devil weed that will cause cancer and make you a horny robber of women and raper of men, a curious kid tries it, finds out they were lied to, and then it's off to the races for them, to find out which other drugs they were lied to about.

Propaganda like this, and in particular anything ONDCP has to say about any drug, does nobody any good. It is precisely because of ONDCP's lies about cannabis that I myself am less than willing to believe everything bad I've heard about other drugs.

[bigmonkey]

36. Agree wholeheartedly! n/t

[JonLP24]

46. EXACTLY my point here

You described me as a teen to a 'T'.

[roguevalley]

41. oh for christ sake. These are pictures showing the truth. When the

other stuff shows up on a link, criticise it. This is real, this is daily America, this is a good thing to see.

[LynneSin]

30. that one before photo - she could be Amy Adam's sister....

Meth is a bitch and I'm guessing most of these folks are doing meth

[Skip Intro]

33. How sad. Lives wasted. So sad. You don't see pics like this from mushroom users.

Just don't.

I'm so intrigued by the idea of doing shrooms or mescaline or even pure LSD, and opening doors of perception, but this meth shit...it just makes no sense.

[lildreamer316]

34. I've always wondered:how do they get the 'before' pictures?

do they just use the pictures of people they arrest and then they happen to arrest them again for drug offenses later?

[xmas74]

37. Yep.

The before is often a first arrest picture.

[Iggo]

44. That is exactly correct. (n/t)

[Iggo]

42. delete