Faces Of Drug Abuse: Computer Models 'Average' Users Of Different Drugs

This Is What The Average Drug User Looks Like

A computer model has been used to find the 'average' face of drug abuse.

The project by Recovery.org looked at 100 mug shots from suspects arrested while under the influence of different substances.

The images were restricted in some ways - the arrestees were between 18 and 35 in age and had similarly toned skin, to try and make the computer image more consistent.

It then combined those images to draw up a subtle but illuminating look at how use of different drugs is able to distort the human face - in often disturbing ways.

You can read more about the methodology here - it's limited, but not uninteresting.

"For each of the six images below, 100 mugshots were averaged together to reveal the average faces of drug abuse. While it is unlikely that a user's basic facial structure depends on the substance they were arrested for, the goal of this project is to expose the effects certain substances might have on a user's appearance."

It added:

"Each sample of 100 mugshots was assembled by randomly selecting images that matched the criteria for gender and type of arrest. Mugshots were restricted to caucasian arrestees between the ages of 18 and 35 to mitigate the influence of race and age on the merged images, and helped ensure that the averages provided a clearer insight on the physical effects that different substances might have. In addition, images with a low resolution were not included in the samples."
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