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A makeover to avoid

08:47 PM PDT on Wednesday, September 19, 2007

By JOAN KINSEY / Evening Magazine

We've shared plenty of amazing makeovers on our show, but nothing quite like the changes you see in people using methamphetamine. It's a look you and your kids want to avoid at all costs.

Everyday, while on the job, Deputy Bret King of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office witnesses horrifying transformations - young faces aged almost overnight.

Deputy King finds these mug shots so disturbing, he's using them to stop an evil addiction.

"Seeing what I see everyday, seeing young people throw all their life away, everything they have going for them on this garbage, will destroy me at the end of my career if I don't do anything about it," he said.

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At the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland, Oregon, Deputy King makes it his business to keep track of all the people booked in his jail, especially the repeat offenders suspected of using the destructive and highly addictive drug, meth.

It's not in his job description to research old mug shots day after day, but he does.

As a deputy and a dad, he's passionate about exposing the alarming effects of meth over time.

Deputy King calls his huge collection of "before" and "after" pictures "The Faces of Meth."

From the floor of gymnasiums throughout the Northwest, he talks to teenagers on a level they understand. His strategy isn't to scare students straight, he just presents honest results from the "meth makeover" – hair loss, facial sores, rotting teeth.

The images may be hard to watch, but students clearly get the message.

Deputy King says he never wants to see another kid in jail ruining his life messed up on meth. Not if he can help it.

Deputy King hasn't been able to visit as many schools this year due to a lack of funding for his project "Faces of Meth." You can offer your support by e-mailing the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. Also, he makes his presentation available online for anyone who would like to get the message out about the evils of meth. Send comments to sheriff@mcso.us.