Shocking before and after photos show how drug addiction takes devastating toll on faces of users

These shocking before and after images reveal in stark and simple terms the cost drug addiction takes on the human face.

'From Drugs to Mugs' is the follow up to the controversial 2004 'Faces of Meth' release which highlighted the effects of methamphetamine use.

Released in the hope that they will make kids think twice about ever touching drugs the pictures show how addicts have lost teeth and scratched their skin to the bone.

The new photographs show the first arrest of a drug user partnered up with a picture taken in some cases only three months later.

They have been put together by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in Oregon and now include users of all hard drugs including cocaine, heroin and meth.

'Faces of Meth went round the world, it captured peoples revulsion and imagination,' said deputy Bret King, 45, who was instrumental in putting together the original Faces of Meth project in 2004.

'As I was putting together the project and touring the country trying to highlight the effects of meth on people, I had a nagging feeling that I knew I wasn't bringing the whole picture to people's attention.

'Every single person I booked and interviewed who was not just a meth addict but a heroin user or a coke-head had started on some seemingly innocent drug like alcohol or cannabis.

'Everyone experiments at college or school and I want From Drugs to Mugs to show kids that everyone in those pictures started on cannabis, they didn't just dive head first into heroin.

'So I ask the students at schools to look at these people and think about their actions, otherwise that could end up being you,' said deputy King.

Faced with an endemic drug problem in the north west of the U.S., the Multnomah Sheriff's Office has also produced a heart-wrenching educational documentary to aid in its fight against young people turning to drugs.

'I want to be able to illustrate the connection between that first decision to use drugs and then down the road when it's a horrible mess,' said deputy King.

Expanding their presentation, which is to be aired in high schools across America, the law enforcement officer and his team interviewed 300 adult inmates at Multnomah County's Inverness Jail.

'We estimate that out of the 2000 or so inmates here over half have tried and used hard drugs,' said King.

'The average age of those surveyed for From Drugs to Mugs claimed they tried their first drugs or alcohol at the age of 12. Out of those 300, 117 said their first drug experience was initiated by a parent, 36 said it was an older sibling or cousin, aunt, uncle or even grandparent.

'Also, 119 said their first drug experience was from a friend and one said it was their babysitter. These are stark statistics but what we wanted to show was the correlation between drug abuse and crime.

'In all we realised that 3,975 arrests could be attributed to these 300 inmates, some of which could be attributed to drugs and some not directly.

'However, drug abuse was an overriding factor in their lives and on average between those 300 they shared 13.25 arrests per inmate.'