It is common knowledge that illicit drugs are bad for your health, but a new series of GIFs show the devastating toll that controlled substances take on people battling addiction. The GIFs are part of a project titled Faces of Addiction, which has been put together by Rehabs.com - an educational organization dedicated to raising awareness of substance abuse. Crumbling faces of addiction: Horrifying GIFs show the heavy toll drug addiction takes on human body over time The GIFs are part of a project titled Faces of Addiction, which has been put together by Rehabs.com All the people in the series have been arrested on various drug charges involving methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or pain pills It is common knowledge that illicit drugs are bad for your health, but a new series of GIFs show the devastating toll that controlled substances take on people battling addiction. The GIFs are part of a project titled Faces of Addiction, which has been put together by Rehabs.com - an educational organization dedicated to raising awareness of substance abuse. Unlike the more common before/after photos, these GIFs allow the viewer to follow the gradual physical decline of more than a dozen men and women. The project includes 13 unnamed individuals who have been arrested over the years on various drug charges involving methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or pain pills. 'The pursuit of a drug habit can cost these people everything – their friends and family, their home and livelihood. And nowhere is that impact more evident than in the faces of addicts themselves,' states the website. The shocking effects of drug abuse on display here run the gamut from open sores and skin lesions to missing teeth to severe facial wasting heralding premature aging. The statement posted on the site points out that beyond the direct effects of substance abuse, people suffering from addiction often fall into a ruinous pattern of self-neglect because taking care of one’s health and appearance becomes secondary to obtaining drugs at any cost. 'The consequences of addiction can remain etched in their very skin for years,' the project states. One of the GIFs focuses on a woman who begins her journey down the path of drug addiction in 2004 as a relatively fresh-faced 33-year-old. A decade later, she emerges as a withered, prematurely aged 43-year-old with a glass eye and sores on her forehead. A 32-year-old man arrested for selling methamphetamine appears to be twice his age, his teeth missing and his nose shattered. One of the more shocking sequences in the series involves a 46-year-old addict arrested for possession of cocaine. The 'before' booking photo taken in 2009 shows him as a heavyset, ruddy man with a full beard. Five years later, he is a shell of a man, his toothless mouth like a crumpled origami and his lined cheeks sallow and sunken. An equally startling transformation occurrs in a female addict, who at age 59 looks to be in her 70s The GIF shows her wasting away over the course of 16 years, losing most of her teeth and hair, with every inch of her face lined and creased. Perhaps one of the more eye-opening examples of the ravages of drugs involves a 23-year-old woman arrested for possession of painkillers. Over the course of a single year, the woman was arrested at least six times, Her latest booking photo taken this year shows her disfigured by open sores covering her forehead, nose and chin. A disclaimer on the page notes that the photos ‘do not necessarily show the direct result of drug abuse or addiction. ‘Rather, they depict the physical deterioration of individuals who have been involved in repeated arrests, and serve as a startling visual timeline – with appearances profoundly altered as a consequence of life impacted by drugs or drug-related crime.’ Rehbas.com is committed to helping people dealing with substance abuse find treatment programs around the country. In 2013, more than 24million people reported that they had abused illicit drugs or prescription pills in a single month, according to the site.

• published: 26 Nov 2014
• views: 8