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Downward Spiral In The Life Of A Drug Addict
Mugshots of a young pretty girl Maria Ramos in New York City taken over a 15 year period which shows the harsh effects of drugs abuse. Hopefully life’s roughness as documented visually through these mugshots would deter more young people to say no to drugs.
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July 22nd, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Not the first time I see this, but it is shocking every time. What a shame, she was a rather nice looking girl.
July 22nd, 2007 at 10:47 pm
this photo would never stop a prospective drug addict. The reason being is that the drug addict or one who is moving in that direction either don’t care or don’t believe it would happen that way for them. that is why the Say No To drugs campaign was and is ineffectual. The answer has to be focused on why people get loaded, not the end result. The photos are interesting and halting but they will only reaffirm the non addict and do little for the latter. The war on drugs is a lie and a joke. The answer has to be multisystemic and rooted in medical/social interventions. Check out the Swiss drug policy for some better ideas.
July 22nd, 2007 at 10:49 pm
It’s over *15 years* though. Do that with a non-drug addict and the results often aren’t much better (15 years ago I looked good too…). Do that with an addict of one of the state-supported drugs (alcohol, tobacco), and I know that for at least alcohol, the results could well look far worse. Tobacco mightn’t, but how much better would she look if she were buying quality-controlled drugs over the counter instead of black market drugs? Black market stuff is usually lower-quality and may be tainted.
July 22nd, 2007 at 11:24 pm
But, of course, lets remember that this is also after 15 years…. Many people don’t age that nicely. Maybe if this was shown over 2 years? I’ve seen much harsher meth use pictures over much shorter periods of time. This women just looks 15 years older and like she needs more sleep.
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:24 am
to all those who point out that this is over a 15 year period… agreed!
I’d like to point out that these are mug shots… this girl was arrested at least 12 times in that 15 year period… SO… that in and of itself is not too pretty…
But at a drrper level there is a fundamental flaw with using a picture like this to “sare” people into not using drugs, and this flaw does not go unnoticed by those who are at risk of following this woman’s path… A complete avoidance of other things that may have made her look like this::
- jail time… kind of a harsh environment…
- drugs… ok that is the suposed point of this article…
- abusive relationships… they seem to go hand in hand in these cases…
- living conditions… homless after pic 6? (just a guess)
- stress
- nutrition
- heallthcare
the list goes on… but the point is that over a 15 year perion saying that one factor is the cause for why a person looks ugly is just a vast oversimplification that makes the “but that won’t happen to me” rational alot more plausable!
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:30 am
Well I have to go with what the others say on aging alone. Around here, you will see meth heads loose teeth in a very short amount of time. But this woman still has teeth, hair and weight. Could just be she aged badly anyway, and got picked up when she hadn’t slept in days or, was sleeping in the street. Further more I see people age bad all the time in 15 years. Here in the midwest women and men eat horribly, and usually look like Stay Pufft marshmellow figures…I don’t know, these pictures tell me nothing….and I have only done the occasional drug.
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:03 am
I’d hit it.
15 years ago.
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:44 am
[…] Entre la primera y la última imagen hay 15 años, y 12 instantaneas para reflejar una vida en la droga. […]
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:43 am
[…] Source: http://www.hemmy.net […]
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:12 pm
14 of the 15 photos seem to be taken within a 6 year period, if I am reading the dates on the NYCPD plates correctly. She seems much better in the last photo which seems to be taken 8 years after the next to the last photo.
July 23rd, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Los efectos de las drogas…
15 años de abusos de drogas reflejados en las fotos policiales. La degradación es perfectamente visible. Aunque si le hubieran hecho lo mismo a Witney Houston el resultado habrÃÂa sido aún más "jevi"….
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Great article except for one thing:
“Hopefully life’s roughness as documented visually through these mugshots would deter more young people to say no to drugs.”
Deter: v
Definition: check, inhibit from action
Antonyms: encourage, instigate, persuade, promote, put on to, stimulate, support, turn on, urge
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:15 am
good interesting picures. these pictures are giving a clear message as somebody above commented that this will not be effective to who is totally in to drugs. so it would be better if there is a comparison pictures of who does not take drugs and who takes drugs.
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:38 am
I agree that a hardcore addict will stop at nothing to access drugs, especially a drug like heroin. However, to me, the pictures do make a compellling case for the harsh lifestyle and all of the attendant risks that accompany hardcore drug use. Knowing the risks and acting on that knowledge are two different things. I pray for those people who are caught up in the drug use cycle, and am grateful for the ability to make better choices.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I just want to know what she was going through when she was looking like man with a mullet hairdo????
February 21st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Are you kidding me!!!! This once pretty girl is a prime example of a “Low life, drug f’d, smackie” who has absolutely stuffed her life. She will be slow as hell from now on. For all you iditos” who say “oh but it was over a 15 year period”., ohhh what a cop out!!! 15 Years ago i took as much pride in my appearance as i do to this day. For all you crack heads, get a life and stop sticking needles in ur eyeballs. You should all be in a grave and all the people in graves should be living their lives. YOU CRACK HORES TAKE YOUR LIFE FOR GRANTED. Fuck off!!! Go prostitute yourselves to get money to snort that shit!!!!
February 29th, 2008 at 4:18 am
It’s a visual time line showing the ravages of drug use.
The addict is interested in getting more drugs not in how they’re taking their toll on their looks.
In response to the previous comment by Jesse: I’m curious where your anger comes from. Your negative views and aggression would/will adversely affect your physical appearance as well.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:10 am
look i’m in recovery now from meth and i only did it for 1 yr. it made me look just as bad. when you on the shit you think that you are the most beautiful person in that world and that everyone is looking at you because you are pretty but really they are looking at you cause you look like a junky
March 7th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
That “Low life, drud f’d smackie” was a little girl once. She was and hopefully still is someones daughter. Look at the first photo and then look at the second from last; is she happy in this vicous cycle?
This is where drugs take you: “the lowest depths of human degradation.”
- President Nixon1971. (email address not mine.)
March 11th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Actually, look at the dates 83-89 for the first photos, the very last in 97 she had cleaned up alot by then and if you think women age that much in 15 years you may need to get your eyes checked. I’m 32 and i sure as hell don’t look like any of these pics. those are some sad crack smoking lines around her mouth.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I agree with a lot of what Jesse says “get a life etc.” Many Junkies are selfish and are just interested in their own mental health. Sadly western society is very selfish and in this sense encourages people to take drugs. Maybe the law should be a lot more draconian in this area. You can’t bring explosives or detonators into the U.S. Maybe the same rules should be applied to narcotics.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
The police have been very sensible making these picture public.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
A couple of good saunas to really work those toxins OUT! Lots of Folic acid and food high in anti-toxins apples, fruit ; a diet specifically tailored for each recovering junkie. Maybe a few saunas. Remember to have some water a a couple of hours before your sauna. This could be part of a detox program.
March 18th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
One things for certain; her elemenatry school, her Junior High School and her High School did’nt stop her from taking the above path. They have’nt stopped other people from following destructive paths (John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahlmer, Those psychos at Columbine, Virginia Tech and that headcase who shot up those Amish kids in Pennsylvania.)
March 18th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Yusuf Imram says we should have photographs to compare. O.K. But Lets also have photos of people who blow themselves up in their explosive belts and vests. Euro-man would come out pretty favourably in that comparison.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:19 am
Go to the archives at Viceland.com, hit the “Drugs” issue and hit the little box with this photo montage on it and get more information about this girl and drugs in general.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:39 am
In Oct.’94 I started work in a seedy area of Central London near a major Rail Terminal. I noticed a buxom healthy attractive girl about nineteen hanging around outside. Within a couple of weeks she had a black eye. By March ‘95 she looked like a walking corpse riddled with venereal disease that brought her out in grotesque spots. Now? I doubt very much that she’s with us. Crack cocaine was the currency at that time in that place. If only someone had scooped her up and taken her away from her vicous circle of users and bullies.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:47 am
You will do permanent damage to your central nervous system taking drugs. Pushers don’t care what they mix it with.
March 19th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Her conviction history is going to make it increasingly difficult to obtain legitimate “clean” employment.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:49 am
The healthiest Athletic person has “residual” toxins in their system ie. toxins that reside permanently. A reformed drug addict will have MORE of these . Get them out with saunas, strenuos exercise that brings you out in a sweat, colonics, fruit, green vegetables and give up those cigarettes and alchohol: you’ve used up all credit now!
March 23rd, 2008 at 7:50 am
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article d Spiral In The Life Of A Drug Addict, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:46 am
no way…that’s John Bon Jovi in picture # 8
March 31st, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Her cunt must STINK now! Another good fanny is lost to society. Would you go down on her for $90.00? No way Jose!!
June 11th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I actually wonder if the Police Station and the courts are the appropriate place for this girl. She obviously needs some guidance through the maze of modern urban life in New York. A “Guidance Centre” through the maxe of modern western life.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
The problem with society is that most people think that throwing a drug addict in prison will sort them out. IT WONT!!!! Most people are stupid and think that they wont get addicted from the first wonderful hit, they try to get that hit over and over again, hence the saying “chasing the dragon” More rehab centres are needed worldwide, drugs are a huge problem in todays society and people can get them just as easy in jail as they can on the streets.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Mystery solved… One sole reporter from overseas published the details of her story. Maria Ramos is 22 in the first picture and dies shortly after the last at the age of 36, succumbing to the effects of heroine. Sad story of a life cut short:
The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)
March 12, 2000, Sunday
Descent into hell of a girl on heroin
BYLINE: SARAH CHALMERS
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 52
LENGTH: 484 words
AT 22, Maria Ramos should have had her whole life to look forward to.
Slim, with a mane of lustrous dark hair, a perfect complexion, bright eyes and sweet smile, she could have been a model.
Instead she chose heroin — and as this startling sequence of pictures shows, the drug robbed her of her looks and her self-respect. Finally, it took her life.
In the 14 years after the first photograph was taken Maria stopped smiling.
She became sullen and withdrawn, losing all interest in her appearance, with little energy or desire to fight the devastating effects heroin wrought on her body.
First to go was her flawless complexion, then her sparkling gaze, her healthy hair and her slim figure.
By the time the last photograph was taken, when she was 36, she looked more like a bloated hag than a woman in her prime.
Weeks later she was dead.
Now the New York Police Department has compiled the 12 mugshots of Maria into a horrifying montage which starkly illustrates the effects of heroin abuse.
On a visit to the department, Judith Gillespie, head of the Royal Ulster Constabulary drugs squad, was so struck by the montage that she took a copy back to Northern Ireland to use in a hard-hitting anti drugs campaign.
“I brought it home just to remind myself and show others what effect drugs can have,” Detective Superintendent Gillespie said. “From a smiling bright-eyed beautiful girl right through the 12 stages to her death, it is a grim reminder of just what can happen if you take drugs.”
Maria Ramos came to police attention in April 1983 when she was arrested for soliciting in a notorious drug area of Manhattan. It is not known if she was already a drug user.
NYPD spokesman Walter Burns said: “She may have got involved in prostitution to fund her way through college.”
Two years later, in 1985, as the deterioration in her physical appearance shows, she was abusing drugs.
Over the next 12 years her appearance was further ravaged as she was arrested again and again — almost always for prostitution, occasionally for drugs possession — and even served a short prison sentence.
Maria fell into a deadly cycle of prostitution to feed her drug habit.
Detective Burns said: “She was heavily into narcotics.”
Prolonged hard drug abuse diminishes appetite and encourages apathy which in turn leads victims to neglect personal hygiene and appearance.
Paula Woodward, of the Institute for Studies of Drug Dependency, said: “With chronic frequent use, euphoria is replaced by restlessness, hyper-excitability, nausea, vomiting and weight loss. With continued use this may develop into a state of mind similar to paranoid psychosis.”
A clampdown on drug crime has been a major feature of Rudolph Giuliani’s time as New York mayor.
Two years ago police identified 7000 drug dealing points on the city’s streets. Now they say there are virtually none.