Faces of Meth - Before/After

[tomm2thumbs]

KTLA uploaded an interesting series of law enforcement photos... taken of users of meth, both before and after. Perhaps it might give folks pause if they see where folks came from and went to after getting hooked on meth. Seems a lot of the 'after' shots show people with skin problems - wondering if that is one of the direct results of the drug or a result of deficient hygiene.

Posting a couple of examples, but the link below has a gallery. Perhaps an online version of 'scared straight'...








http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/wghp-pg-faces-of-meth,0,938349.photogallery

[MadMaddie]

1. Wow! Meth users also suffer from rotting teeth!

They eyes of most if not all of them are vacant like no one is home. The skin issues are horrific.

[Hannah Bell]

45. Meth mouth:

"This effect is not caused by any corrosive effects of the drug itself, which is a common myth.

According to the American Dental Association, meth mouth "is probably caused by a combination of drug-induced psychological and physiological changes resulting in xerostomia (dry mouth), extended periods of poor oral hygiene, frequent consumption of high-calorie, carbonated beverages and bruxism (teeth grinding and clenching)."<51> Similar, though far less severe symptoms have been reported in clinical use of other amphetamines..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methedrine

[tridim]

2. Yikes, I guess those Meth PSA's are actually pretty realistic.

[Lisa0825]

3. Obsessive skin picking is an effect of meth. They did that to their own faces.

*shudder* :scared:

[Robb]

15. Only partly.

More terrifyingly, many of the chemicals in meth simply aren't metabolized by the body, and are excreted through the skin, resulting in sores.

Which then yes, they also pick at.

[Jamastiene]

4. I am pro pot and feel like most drugs should be legalized, but

NOT meth. Meth is poison. I wouldn't touch it with a million foot pole. It puts holes in the person's brain and they are never able to recover once they become addicted.

It is poison. Period.

[zorahopkins]

25. I Know Meth Users Who Have Recovered

I happen to know some meth users who have stopped using meth completely.

They HAVE recovered.

It is just not true that meth users can never recover once they become addicted.

If that were really the case, no one would ever quit.

[rgbecker]

28. I've heard in many cases one use is all it takes to get hooked.

[beyurslf]

36. Recover might be the wrong word. Sure, one can be addicted and get off of meth.

This is called recovery in addiction counseling. But one never "recovers" their lost appearance, their teeth, their brain function. I have a friend who used meth for almost 5 years. He has been clean a very long time (5 or more years no it seems). He is a few years younger than I am but still looks at least 10 years older. He has lost most of his teeth. He has strange memory lapses sometimes and goes off into a daze. You never really recover.

[Hannah Bell]

47. Jack Kerouac wrote "On the Road" on a three-week benzedrine binge.

"Benzedrine is the trade name of the racemic mixture of amphetamine (dl-amphetamine). It was marketed under this brandname in the USA by Smith, Kline & French in the form of inhalers, starting in 1928. Benzedrine was used to enlarge nasal and bronchial passages and it is closely related to other stimulants produced later, such as dextroamphetamine (d-amphetamine) and methamphetamine."

Benzedrine:



Methamphetamine:





American Meth: A History Of The Methamphetamine methamphetamine Epidemic In America by Sterling Braswell is a highly researched documentation of the use and abuse of methamphetamines as contemporary America's quintessential addictive drug.

Delving deeply into an understanding of the drug's molecular significance and its physiological, psychological, and anatomical effects on humans, American Meth comprehensively presents readers with an accurate understanding of methamphetamine's structural origins and history with examples of users from Hitler, President Kennedy, Elvis, Jack Kerouac and many more...



Not true that addicts/users can "never recover" & remain walking zombies or something.

Methamphetamine is given to Children for ADHD, legally = Desoxyn.

[Hannah Bell]

49. yes, they can & do. the idea they can't, the idea that one use = addiction,

the idea that methamphetamine = some especially evil drug = moral panic.


Methamphetamine is given to children for ADHD. Oh, but that's a legal, pharmaceutical grade of "meth," so it's "different".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine_(medical)

ADHD drugs are all amphetamines of one kind or another.

"Methamphetamine is considered to not have any greater risk of misuse and addiction than its close relative amphetamine, although methamphetamine causes a higher degree of euphoria, a lesser degree of adverse physical reactions, and a longer lasting duration of effects than amphetamine."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine_(medical)

[Robb]

79. I knew someone would leap to meth's defense.

Thank goodness. :eyes:

[Hannah Bell]

81. not defending "meth," but rebutting "reefer-madness" type moral panic used to gin up

public support for prisons, police & surveillance state.

as well as targeted attacks on racial, ethnic & economic minorities.

[fishwax]

27. It's not true that people never recover

I've known several people who had meth problems (varying severity) in the past but have quit.

That's not to say that it isn't poison, but it's not something that people can't recover from.

[ddeclue]

5. They didn't look so good before either..

[Lisa0825]

7. Some of them didn't look too bad. The blonde lady in the OP probably

looked quite nice all cleaned up.

[NutmegYankee]

78. The photos were taken at each arrest.

So some had been using much longer than the 1-3 years between each photo.

[tomm2thumbs]

6. Knowing that the first pic was also after arrest, you'd think they'd not be able to drop much

but some are simply too sad - obviously folks who got into something that took over their lives

[Shell Beau]

8. Sad but not surprising when you consider what is in meth.

Anyone who is just a curious person about drugs needs to see this. Trying it for that "one" time can lead to being addicted to it. I am sure no one wants to be that person, but it starts somewhere.


And by drugs, I don't consider pot to be one. I mean heroin, crack, meth, and cocaine.

[Hannah Bell]

26. meth is pretty much chemically equivalent to a lot of add/adhd drugs we give our children, e.g.

"Take a look at Chem Compare. If you look on the far right end on these images, you can see that there is a "NH-CH3" on the Methamphetamine where there is a "NH2" on the amphetamine. For many of the known psychoactives, adding a methyl group slightly alters the effects, duration, and/or potency. As you start to pay attention to other chemical names, you'll see "meth" show up in many names and this will almost always indicate that there is a methyl group on the molecule somewhere. For Methamphetamine, the methyl allows it a little better fat solubility and thus better penetration into the brain.

Adderall is simply a brand name for a particular mix of different "stereoisomers" (same atoms connecting at the same places, just pointing in different directions in space at one point in the molecule) and salts of amphetamine. Take a look at the page describing Adderall for a little more info about this...

Another thing to note when talking about the differences in the amphetamine-class stimulants is that one of the strange effects of current culture is that particular drugs are demonized in the news, entertainment media, government information, and school curricula. Methamphetamine is particularly demonized, amphetamine somewhat less so, even though amphetamine-related stimulant drugs -- including methylphenidate (Ritalin), amphetamine (Adderall, Dexedrine), & methamphetamine (Desoxyn) -- are commonly prescribed for children from as young as age 3. All three of these can lead to difficult-to-break habits and can become a problem for some people who try them. But the marketing teams of the pharmaceutical companies do what they can to soothe parents' concerns by separating the image of street-speed users from the clean, clinical, healthy use of their products."

http://www.erowid.org/ask/ask.php?ID=2846


Many of the effects attributed to meth are caused as much by the drug lifestyle as much as the drugs themselves: e.g. poor diet, irregular living quarters, constant need to get $$ for drugs, mixing drugs, infections, etc.

[Odin2005]

40. I've taken Ritalin since I was 6 with few ill effects.

I'm 23 now, so that is 17 years of taking it. In contrast Meth will fuck you up in just a year or two.

[Hannah Bell]

41. "Methamphetamine is FDA approved under the trademark name Desoxyn, for the treatment of ADHD"

"Methamphetamine is FDA approved under the trademark name Desoxyn, for the treatment of ADHD and exogenous obesity, and is prescribed off-label for the treatment of narcolepsy and treatment-resistant depression.<48> Methamphetamine is known to produce central effects similar to other stimulants, but at smaller doses, with fewer peripheral effects."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine = N-methyl-1-phenyl-propan-2-amine



Meth mouth

Methamphetamine users and addicts may lose their teeth abnormally quickly, a condition known as "meth mouth". This effect is not caused by any corrosive effects of the drug itself, which is a common myth. According to the American Dental Association, meth mouth "is probably caused by a combination of drug-induced psychological and physiological changes resulting in xerostomia (dry mouth), extended periods of poor oral hygiene, frequent consumption of high-calorie, carbonated beverages and bruxism (teeth grinding and clenching)." Similar, though far less severe symptoms have been reported in clinical use of other amphetamines, where effects are not exacerbated by a lack of oral hygiene for extended periods.<52>

Like other substances that stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, methamphetamine causes decreased production of acid-fighting saliva and increased thirst, resulting in increased risk for tooth decay, especially when thirst is quenched by high-sugar drinks.

Hygiene

Serious health and appearance problems can be caused by unsterilized needles, lack or ignoring of hygiene needs (more typical on chronic use), and obsessive skin-picking, which may lead to abscesses


Ritalin = methyl phenyl(piperidin-2-yl)acetate

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

74. Yeah it exactly the same that's why all the elementary school kids look like those pictured.

Dosage, route and frequency are the bigger factor here.

[Hannah Bell]

80. according to the posters here, one use is enough to turn someone into a raving addict.

if so, why don't the kids on the stuff start upping their doses & stealing from their mother's purses? why don't they start mainlining it?

pretty obviously, the reasons they don't have nothing to do with the qualities of the drug itself.

though posters here seem to believe the qualities of the drug cause all its harmful social effects.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

82. Most of these drugs stimulate the release of dopamine.

When these drugs are abused they cause excessive amounts of dopamine to be released. That is what is addictive. So it is the qualities of the drug when they are misused and the psychological make-up of the individual that can cause addiction.

[proteus_lives]

9. Meth is poison.

There is a definite point where drug legalization should stop.

[Better Today]

19. Yeah, my thoughts are to keep anything processed illegal. So

pot, shrooms, even coca, but not cocaine, crack, meth, etc. To me it's the processing that is a logical break point for legality. Of course all should have similar rules to alcohol, though I don't know how anyone can tell if one is under the influence of mj or whether the THC is still just in the fat cells. Anyway, jmho.

[Hippo_Tron]

31. We shouldn't be putting people in prison for it, though

Obviously it's not a good idea to be selling Meth at the grocery store (not that they would anyway) but incarcerating people for non-violent drug offenses no matter what the drug is not a good idea.

[proteus_lives]

38. Meth does lead to crime.

Meth isn't a drug habit that can be controlled. I'm for easy laws against non-violent drug offenses but meth, crack, heroin; those drugs lead to crime.

Why not enforced rehab and work-release?

[Hannah Bell]

44. That's why it's legally prescribed to children for ADHD & to adults for obesity.

Because the habit can't be controlled.

"Methamphetamine is FDA approved under the trademark name Desoxyn, for the treatment of ADHD and exogenous obesity, and is prescribed off-label for the treatment of narcolepsy and treatment-resistant depression.<48> Methamphetamine is known to produce central effects similar to other stimulants, but at smaller doses, with fewer peripheral effects."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methedrine

[proteus_lives]

54. Ok. Start taking meth.

Let us know how that works out.

[Hannah Bell]

55. I have no interest in doing meth. just saying, a lot of the hype about it = moral panic.

if it's so addictive, so physically debilitating - why is it being prescribed to children, legally, for something called "attention deficit disorder"?

there's someone on this thread who was a weekend user & miraculously escaped becoming a zombified addict, or criminal.

all drugs lead to crime, when they're illegal. so does alcohol, so does tobacco.

[quiller4]

71. People who are hyperactive metabolize the drug differently.

My grown foster daughter has been on Ritalyn off and on since she was 8. She is 48 now. Even the prescription drug destroyed her teeth. She was only 30 when she got dentures.

When she has not been able to access prescription Ritalyn, she has self-medicated with Meth. The street drug is contaminated with a number of dangerous chemicals. She has never been a heavy or continuous user but she still has severe bone loss due to drug-induced malabsorbtion of nutrients and suffers significant loss of kidney and liver function.

She has been through drug treatment and stayed clean when maintained on prescription Ritalyn and getting regular counseling but when the counseling and medication is cutoff, she quickly relapses.

[Hannah Bell]

72. so maybe some of the street users metabolize meth differently too.

[Duke Newcombe]

62. You're definitely trying to say something...

with the "kids with ADHD" statements repeated over and over, but I'll be damned if I can discern it. What point are you trying to make/agenda are you trying to further, exactly?

[Hannah Bell]

64. I'm trying to further no agenda, but simply stating a fact. Methamphetamine is legally available

& prescribed for ADHD & other uses by medical professionals, as are several closely related amphetamines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine_(medical)

Those to whom it's prescribed typically don't become wild-eyed, toothless, criminal addicts.

Ergo, the idea that meth is some uniquely addictive, physically & socially destructive drug is erroneous. The evils attributed to the qualities of the drug *alone* have other causes, & there's a strong element of moral panic in current media-generated understanding of the drug.

[JonLP24]

69. Not all the time

Of course in cases where they use all the time where the withdrawals are unbearable and they have nothing left to sell and they have that need where it feels like they must have some more they resort to stealing something they can sell. Many others use it sometimes but have other primary drugs of choice(me 5 years ago), in those cases they use it because the high is enjoyable and they are done. Cannabis also helps a lot with withdrawals. I ever known someone in the Army who was Airborne and Air Assault qualified who was promoted on a regular basis because he scored over 300+ points on PT tests because he was in excellent shape. However he was primarily a drinker and worked out a lot. But he didn't commit other crimes, there are many cases out there where you wouldn't expect it.

With that said I'm for legalization, the drug war is a fraud. They lock up people on the supply/demand side everyday but it doesn't take longer than 5 minutes knowing the right people to find it.

[fujiyama]

61. It depends

Those cooking it are making environments basically uninhabitable. It's very expensive to clean up places used as meth labs.

There were a few cases in TN or KY where people bought homes unknowing they had been used as meth labs earlier. They had all sorts of symptoms and then later after doing a lot of digging found they had been used as meth labs. I don't think it was a required disclosure. Similarly when meth labs were first busted, hazmat crews were not called in and law enforcement officers faced illnesses later.

One shouldn't go to jail simply for using it. They should be treated extensively and closely monitored. Meth itself is some really nasty and destructive stuff and those manufacturing it should be punished severely.

[Flaneur]

77. Meth is a Schedule I controlled substance, available by prescription.

Desoxyn.

[gateley]

10. Even in the sixties, we knew Speed Kills.

I read an article in Readers' Digest about autopsies performed on heroin addicts and speed freaks. Internally, the junkies' didn't fare too badly (considering), but I'll always remember that it said when they would touch the brain of a meth head, it would disintegrate. :scared: I did lots of meth when I was 13. I remember always coming down hard, and having to wait a day until I got back to 'normal'. One day, I swear, I never got back to normal. Ever.

[Mojambo]

11. Meth is a vicious, devastating drug.

Those photos are tough to look at.

Those are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. I can't imagine having someone I love go through that.

Horrible fucking scourge. I wonder what the percentage of people who actually fully kick a meth habit are. It can't be that good.

[Peregrine Took]

12. There is an excellent book entitled "Methland" which explains the

whole meth problem and what it has done to so many small rural towns.

[EFerrari]

24. The CSPAN archives has a BookTV segment on that book.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/288313-1

It was excellent. :hi:

[HarveyDarkey]

13. positive?

Do I really need the sarcasm thingy?

[Warpy]

14. Meth seems to age a body ten years for every year of use

although one guy went from nearly normal to utterly destroyed in 3 months according to the pictures.

It's a bad drug and I don't think anybody but a new user would dispute it.

I wonder how many of these people would have done meth if there had been options besides alcohol, caffeine and nicotine around.

When the good stuff is illegal, people turn to the cheapest and easiest to manufacture bad stuff they can get. Meth is one example. Some of the stuff teenagers are huffing would be others.

Some of these faces were brought to you courtesy of the war on drugs. Some people will always cook meth and some people will always use it. However, limiting the damage and using them as living examples of what that drug does to the human body might be the best we can do.

Clearly the war on drugs is just not working.

[Lisa0825]

17. Very good points. nt

[bridgit]

16. Its the core dead-ness in the eyes, that's where it starts

People would like to believe that there's a funded program somewhere that could reach in there and fix it...but it can be very dynamic and really hard to do

[Jkid]

18. I've seen a documentary where they featured the Faces of Meth.

It was in a segment in the National Geographic Channel's documentary "The World's Most Dangerous Drug"

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. Have you seen Heidi Fleiss on Celebrity Rehab?

She's in for meth - and looks like it. I never thought she was hot, exactly, but now she looks barely human.

[trumad]

22. yep

[paulsby]

21. i have seen many cases firsthand during cases and such

i used to work undercover. i would see young beautiful girls (16-19) and within 2-3 yrs of using meth, they'd age 10-15 yrs and look like crap.

it's partly a neglect thang. but it's also a function of how meth works. it's a stimulant, and basically jacks the metabolism up bigtime. this leaches minerals and vitamins, and combined with the poor diet of meth-heads, it's a lose-lose combination.

also, it tends to cause very dry mouth, and dry mouth leads to dental disease, due to the increased enamel destroying acid and lack of fluid to wash it away, etc.

otoh, it's great for weight loss :)

i am 100% against the war on drugs, but i am not "pro meth". meth is a sucky drug. some people can and do use it responsibly and see few if any problems. but that's a dangerous game.

i have a GREAT powerpoint presentation i use to educate kids and community groups on meth.

lots of neat pictures of meth heads (booking photos).

appealing to young girls (and to an extent, guys') vanity would help with meth. show a 17 yr old girl, how she will likely look after 3 yrs of meth abuse. that's a powerful deterrent imo

[Skip Intro]

23. Yikes. Those poor people. I've tried it. I liked it too. But let it go pretty quickly...

the highs were killer in the beginning, but the lows got bad quickly, and the heart racing and the shaking - I never got anywhere near as far along as these people though - I might have used it on weekends for a couple of months. Wow, I'm so glad I didn't fall face first into this crap.

I'd probably still do a line or two if it was offered, but it would be a one time ting...

[undeterred]

29. Mostly redheads.

[-..__...]

30. "It's alive"!

(bottom pic, right)

Is that the "Bride of Frankenstein" ?

(Not that the before pic is any bargain either).

[eilen]

32. They look like zombies.

I am glad this wasn't in my town in the late 1980's. I would have lost a lot of friends to it if so.

[TankLV]

33. The last one is from "Edward Sizzorhands"...stop trying to fool us!!!

[Marr]

34. Of course, you're looking at the effects of a lifestyle-- not just a drug.

Addicts often live pretty desperate lives.

[w8liftinglady]

35. you think that's bad-here are their kids...

I live in the middle of meth country...and can spot them a mile away...really sad.

[AspenRose]

43. That is heartbreaking.

:cry:

[tango-tee]

48. We too easily forget that these people don't live in a vacuum.

It is bad enough if they fry their own brains. But to realize that some of the users have dependents, and looking at these poor kids - it breaks your heart.

BTW, I lived in Beaumont for many years!

[FedUpWithIt All]

51. Thank you for posting this. It is too easy to overlook the most helpless victims of addiction.

It shouldn't be.

Heartbreaking.

[tomm2thumbs]

67. this really need to be covered more - I don't think folks know the results - and how fast it occcurs

just terrible

[Quantess]

37. These aren't "before" and "after" photos.

This is their first mug shot compared to subsequent mug shots.

Most likely they were already using meth in their first mugshots, but by the second arrest, they look that much worse.

[Arkana]

39. Sarah Palin hides it well.

[jmowreader]

42. Someone here had the perfect way to keep kids off meth

Just bring two or three tweakers into the classroom and let the kids see what they look like.

[OnyxCollie]

46. I helped a meth head at the store I work at this past Sunday.

Missing teeth, sores all over her face.

She was buying children's vitamins.

[Kablooie]

50. Then there's always this horrible case...

[U4ikLefty]

52. Yours is an example of "Faces of Marriage - Before/After" n/t

[Kablooie]

60. Why so it is. This makes me wonder about the sanity of our gay bretheren sometimes.

I mean, who wants to get into a relationship that does this to people?

[Hannah Bell]

56. thanks for the laugh.

[tomm2thumbs]

68. you had me for a second

and no more, but it was a good second

[suede1]

53. That stuff is the worst. Hate it when this poison is compared to pot. It's insulting.

[Frank Cannon]

66. Really puts old Mary Jane in perspective, doesn't it?

The worst thing I've seen pot do to a person is make him fall asleep with a Cheeto hanging out of his mouth.

[suede1]

57. My god is that stuff awful!

[IndyJones]

58. They all have such saddness in their eyes, even in the before pix.

[Quantess]

63. Probably because those are mugshots.

[Socal31]

59. Awful. Awful. Awful.

That crap has ruined more than one of my childhood friends. It makes doing a line of blow at a party look like a healthy habit.


I really wish we could somehow help treat them instead of arrest them.

[winyanstaz]

65. I agree....

The look of a lost soul is in their eyes in the before ones...but the after ones they look so desperate.
This is another reason drugs should be legalized..at least then we could get them some help.
When it's illegal they are afraid to ask for help..because they will usually just be arrested.

[tomm2thumbs]

70. These kind of before/after life lessons should be mandatory viewing by teens

I don't think kids realize that meth is as addicting or as lifechanging as it is - and no doubt none of the people who started in the before pics had even considered the possibility of how it might affect them when they started.

[mitchum]

73. They don't make meth like they used to do: I had a hardcore meth habit...

25 years ago (banging it several times a day for a couple of years)
When my friends and I stopped (trust funds do run out) and got clean, we were all young and pretty again.
The modern product is garbage and I have no desire to sample it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

76. glad you got clean

[Liberal_in_LA]

75. This guy fared pretty well...improved really. His hairline grew back