![]() ![]() "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 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. Utilizing cameras and software originally designed to show patients what they might look like after plastic surgery, a computer program known as Face2Face can show students what they could look like in a few years if they use meth, owing to effects on teeth, skin and hair from drug use. 7, 2010— - A promising new program aims to prevent teenagers from trying methamphetamine by showing them how the drug might alter their appearance for the worse within a few years. ![]()
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