PHOTOS PAINT PICTURE OF UGLY SIDE OF DRUGS

When we talk to kids about drugs, I'm afraid we don't do a very good job of
giving them the full story.

We never admit that there are people who dabble in drugs, enjoy them and
suffer no ill effects.

Sooner or later, kids discover that - and then perhaps discount everything
they have been told about drugs.

But on the other hand, I don't think we ever succeed in making clear just
how truly, totally, utterly devastating drugs can be.

Police in Hollywood, Fla., say these photos show the effects of drugs and
prostitution. 1979 Take this woman, for example.

The first time she used drugs, maybe she felt a little guilty. We make drug
use seem a "disappointment" to parents.

Or maybe she felt a little giddy. We talk about drugs being "risky," as if
they were a bungee jump or a fast ride on a motorcycle.

Sometimes we make drug use seem foolish. Or tacky. Or simply unhealthy.

But we just can't seem to find the words to communicate the depths that
drugs can take you.

The first time she used drugs, surely this woman had no idea of the journey
she had just begun.

The woman's fate is unknown. 1980 Yes, the photos are real. Yes, it's the
same woman.

And maybe these photos can convey what words cannot.

Some of you may have seen them before. The police department in Hollywood,
Fla., posted them on its Web site some time ago.

And in typical Internet fashion, the mug shots have traveled around the
world.

"I get calls from London, from Paris, from everywhere asking about those
pictures," said Hollywood Police Department spokesman Carlos Negr=F3n.

1986 Around the department, she's simply known as "the crackhead."

On the Police Department's Web site, the photos have a more formal title:
"The Effects of Drugs and Prostitution over time."

Police in Hollywood arrested her again and again. These are just a few of
the booking photos from a 10-year year period ending in 1989.

She's 42 in that last photo.

1988 At www.hollywoodpolice.org, you can see all the photos. (In the "Selec
t
Special Units" box at the top, pick "Crime Suppression Unit.")

You might want to click through those photos one at a time with your child
and say this is why we talk so much about drugs.

If your child is old enough, you might want to talk about how this woman
degraded herself over and over through prostitution just to satisfy that
scream inside her for drugs.

1989 I have often thought that the most effective message we could give kid
s
about drugs is this: "If you love being bossed around by your parents, by
all means, please try drugs."

Because the truth is, nothing will boss you around like a drug addiction.

The drugs that seemed so fun at first become like a parent that harps and
harps and harps.

You know this woman wanted to stop. You know she was weary. But the drugs
said, "You can't stop. We've just started!"

Police in Florida said they haven't heard anything about her in more than a
year. "Last I heard, she was alive, but she was in real bad shape,"
Detective Negr=F3n said.

We ought to be honest with kids. Some people use drugs and do just fine. An
d
others. ... Well, the photos say it best.