Shocking photos show how drug use affects your appearance over time

American drug rehabilitation organisation Rehabs has created a series of photos to show the effects of drugs such as cocaine, heroine, and oxycodone on regular users of the drugs.

According to data shared on Rehabs, more than 1.6 million Americans were arrested on drug related charges in 2010, and a 2012 study found that hundreds of thousands of people had used illegal drugs in the previous month.

The series combines mug shots from drug arrests, taken over time, and shows the harrowing effect use of drugs can have on a person's appearance over time.

Stigmatising drug addiction

Concerned that such photo galleries might stigmatise addicts, Rehabs, working with the Drug Policy Alliance is concerned that this sort of photo series stigmatises drug users and does more harm than good.

In a popup window on their website they share research supporting this possibility, and ask readers to vote in a poll on the content's appropriateness.

...photos of real individuals who are or have struggled with addiction have been posted on many webpages with the intention of demonstrating the physical effects of substance use disorders.

However, some have criticised such content, indicating that graphic photos are sensationalist and intensify, rather than reduce, stigma against those struggling with addiction.

Findings from their poll found that more people felt compassion for addicts (41 per cent) than less (19 per cent), yet as much as 39 per cent were unmoved by the images.

80 per cent of the roughly 1,600 respondents agreed that seeing the physical effects of drug addiction made them less likely to abuse drugs.

HT Time

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