Tracking use of a particular drug can also be difficult in part because, like consumers of other goods, drug users can be sensitive to prices and availability. "It's very, very costly and difficult to study people for years and years," Mooney said. While more research and therefore time is needed before Face2Face can be considered successful, it can be difficult - and expensive - to determine what, if any, effect the program is having. "We can look at the data and help figure out what are the weaknesses of the program and how can it be modified to be more effective," she said. However, Mooney said research could help in improving the program for the future. "It's just too premature to say whether it will be effective in actually changing drug use and drug behaviors." "There's been so many prevention efforts that seem promising initially, and really time will tell. But as some drug programs have shown in the past, that initial optimism can be misleading. Intuitively the program seems like a powerful one, because of the immediate and visible personal impact it has. "This really shows them the negative side, where once you're addicted to a drug and it's very difficult to stop, then it's too late." "I think it's a good program, it really personalizes what the effects of drug use can be to the kids, versus them being able to put it into their mind that that can happen to somebody else," she said. "Locally we've used it with middle school, high school and college classes," said Diana Apodaca, a special agent and community outreach agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration in El Paso, Texas. "We feel like the children are getting younger and younger that are exposed to it." "Statistics show us now that middle school is a target age where they're experimenting," she said. They plan to roll out the program in more high schools, and middle schools as well. Myles said in Mobile County the program has been brought to high schools in the north and south, where the problem is greatest. "It's a good experience because you never want to see yourself that way, but it is weird." "It's weird to see yourself look that way," she said. Prior to the class, Cagle said she wasn't very familiar with the meth problem, although, she said, "I know of a few houses that burned down due to meth last year."īut, she said the picture was powerful in stressing how damaging meth can be. "Obviously it can't be perfected because it's just a picture, it's not a re-creation." But, she added, "It kind of brings you down to earth a little bit." "It's not exactly the most gorgeous picture of myself I've ever seen," she said. Montgomery High School in Semmes, a suburb 15 miles northwest of Mobile, was among the first to try the program there, coming into the police station to do so through a class. "The first time we displayed it was at our county fair ," Mobile County, Ala., Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lori Myles said. The program has not been limited to Mendocino County.
#Arrest photos meth before and afee software
He contacted what he estimates to be more than 20 software companies before he reached out to Vestremi, leading to the creation of Face2Face a little less than a year ago.Īnti-Meth Computer Program a Spreading Idea With his idea, however, kids could see the consequences for them. "They basically convince you it happens to other kids." "Kids think that they have this Teflon coating on them and nothing bad happens to them," Allman said of the reaction when they are told of possible drug consequences.
He had been frustrated with the growing methamphetamine epidemic in his county, and the two ideas came together. The message sticks, it has a retention value," said Laslo Vestremi, chief executive officer of Abalone.Īllman came up with the idea when, at the mall with his wife, he saw a cosmetics counter with a program to show customers what they would look like with various types of makeup. "The point of the face program is that it personalizes the message and makes the message really exciting.
Personalizing the experience and showing teens the possible consequences of meth use for them was a primary goal of the project, which was conceived by Mendocino County, Calif., Sheriff Thomas Allman, a former narcotics officer, and developed by Abalone, LLC, a software company based near San Francisco. "Adolescents are known to be at an age concerned about their appearance," said Mooney. The program takes one step further the anti-meth campaigns instituted in several states that use before and after photographs of real meth addicts to show how the drug ravages not only a person's health, but also their looks. Larissa Mooney, a psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of addiction at UCLA. "I think that it's definitely an innovative approach in that it's showing the consequences of meth in a very personalized manner," said Dr.
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