health

Before and after: beauty queen to drug addict.

 

Jamie France, now 23, is a former teen beauty pageant winner. She won Miss Teen Oregon in 2009.

When we think about beauty pageant winners, we think glowing skin. We think large bright eyes and shimmery, bouncing hair.

These young women may be flawless in appearance, but few real lives ever are.

After her pageant win, Jamie was in a car accident that left her with a painful back injury. She was prescribed pain-killers for her back, but when her scripts ran out, she turned to heroin.

This year she was arrested in Keizer, Oregon for possession of methamphetamines, heroin and suboxne.

The police took a mugshot and have released it to show how the drugs had affected her once rosy complexion.

The transformation is shocking.

 

The picture also demonstrates that not every person trapped by addiction fits the cliche of a skeezy loser.

Sometimes, it’s the girl next door.

“One of the points we’re trying to make is that most people believe your heroin and controlled substance users are just losers, and that they’re not everyday average or ordinary folks,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Kuhns with Keizer Police. “But what we’re finding out more and more is that they are truly people that came from good lives, and they’ve ruined their lives by becoming involved in these drugs.”

The mugshots of Jamie’s co-accused also have a story to tell.

Jarrod and Erin Wells were arrested with Jamie for methamphetamine and heroin charges, as well as endangerment of their children aged 7 and 4, who were in their house when it was raided by police.

This is Jarrod Wells.

And his wife, Erin Wells.

 

As kids leave for Schoolies, it’s not a bad reminder of how addiction can ravage your appearance and your life.

CLICK THROUGH a gallery to see the real affects of these drugs on users.

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Top Comments

missxiola 10 years ago

Overly simplistic view of addiction. We have enough science now to understand how an addictive brain works. Crap like "drugs bad, mmmkay" should have died out in the 80s

Caroline 10 years ago

But surely, by applying the logic and simply making the choice to not utilise addictive drugs in the first place the answer is simple. You will not become a drug addict, yes? I see that this unfortunate young lady started off with a genuine injury that required strong pain relief, but as the recipient of similar pain relief, I very quickly realised after a short time, that signs of dependency - physical dependency - were starting. Rebound pain, tolerance to the normal dosage etcetera. Thus I thought ''drugs bad, stop this now'' and did, and it was unpleasant for a day or so. Then I felt so much better. I am of very average intelligence, certainly no better than anyone else or more insightful, yet I see that deciding to buy heroin is a very bad idea. Because, you know, drugs, bad.

anon 10 years ago

Drugs are bad, why should that argument ever die out? New age love and understanding doesn't change the fact that drugs and addiction can give you a before and after shot like those above.


Harry Phillips 10 years ago

I could take two photos 15 seconds apart, with a change of lighting and settings the same person could be made to look like they went from runway model to $2 hooker.

These photos are crap.