Faces of Meth

April 11, 2008 by dave

I think every high school student in the country should visit Faces of Meth.

This project began when a deputy in the Corrections Division Classification Unit, Deputy Bret King, put together mug shots of persons booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. Deputy King worked with his co-workers in the Classification Unit to identify people who had been in custody more than once. He then worked to verify criminal records and files to determine and assure a history of methamphetamine related use. Deputy King also started interviewing people in custody to learn of their drug use, experiences with methamphetamine, how or if methamphetamine contributed to their criminality, and asked what they would tell young people about methamphetamine.

What Deputy King set out to do was create a realistic presentation about methamphetamine. He didn’t want to create something that made people curious about a drug nor that was a scared straight program. The idea was simple, be honest with kids, let them hear directly from the inmates, and show them what people who work on the front lines – whether it be a Corrections Deputy in the Jail, a Police Officer on the streets or a Public Health Nurse in a clinic see methamphetamine doing to people and to our communities.

The efforts of this project were first published in the Oregonian as part of their focused efforts on the methamphetamine epidemic www.oregonlive.com. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office has provided the pictures posted in the Oregonian Faces of Meth™ story on December 28, 2004 to others who are involved in methamphetamine prevention and awareness efforts.

These pictures are very frightening. It is incredible what this terrible drug can do to those who fall victim to its effects. Hopefully projects like this one will help young adults take a second thought before "trying" meth.

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