Photos outing heroin couple spark questions of purpose and privacy

The images are stark andstartling two adultheroin users, passed out andslumped over in the front seat of an SUV while a four-year-old boy sits in the back seat, staring straight ahead.

And while theEast Liverpool,Ohio policedefend the rare and controversial move ofreleasing those images on their Facebook page, their tactichas raised questions over how effectively it willdeter such behaviour.

"That is a hard-hitting picture and anyone who sees it is affected by it," said David Hammond,an associateprofessor ofpublic health andhealth systems at the University of Waterloo. "It makes the abstract image of addiction very concrete."

"The thing it does that's interesting it talks about the consequence of addiction on others. And that's the tragedy."CBC News hasblurred the boy's face.

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Hammond wouldn't comment on whether it was appropriate for police to release those images.Yet to be truly effective,imageslike thoseneedto be accompanied with information for addicts on how to get help, he said.

Policeshould have also included the address, web link or phone number of addiction treatment services, he said.

'Hell of a good fire alarm'

"The phrase people use is, 'You can pull the fire alarm, but you have to help someone get out of the building.' So that's a hell of a good fire alarm in terms of image but you need to provide them with addictiontreatment services if you actually hope to help users."

The pictures have gone viral, and comments have flooded onto the policeFacebook page,for and againstthe release of the images.

Police said they posted the pictures becausethey wanted the publicto see what officers must deal with every day.They also hoped it would convince"another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody."

Police in thecity of 13,000, whichborders Pennsylvania and West Virginia,say the images were takenSept. 7.

An officerwatched avehicle weave and stop. The officer approached and noticed signs the driver was impaired. The officer saidthe driver indicated he was taking his unconscious passenger to a hospital, and then hebecame unresponsive.The officer called paramedics, who revived the pair.

The woman, who is the boy's grandmother and was granted custody of the child six weeks ago, isbeing held on a child endangerment charge. Her boyfriendpleaded guilty to child endangerment and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. The boy has since moved in with other relatives.

Brian Allen, the city's director of public service and safety, has said the decision to release the picture was madeafter consultations with the mayor's office, police chief and the city's law director.

Massachusetts civil rights lawyerHarveySilverglatesaid he doesn't believe the police violated any laws by releasing the pictures, and that the couple, by their actions, had thrust themselves into the public domain.

'Propaganda tool'

But he said he found it "somewhat offensive" that police were using these pictures "as basically a propaganda tool."

In his opinion, the police disseminated the imagesnot because they were newsworthy, but to make a "propaganda point against the use of opiates."

Some of the controversyinvolved the decision by the police not to blur the boy's face. Allen has saidthe city could not legally alterthe photos as public records.

Silverglate said he believed showing the boy's face was in "extremely bad taste" and aviolation of his privacy.

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"There iszero publicinterestin seeingthefaceofthe child but very strong interest in learning what the [adults]have done."

Dennis Long, executive director of Toronto-based Breakaway Addiction Services, said he doubts the release of these photos will serve as a deterrent to other drug users.

"This kind ofideathat youcanscarepeopleout of doing some dumb stuff has notbeen proven to beparticularlyeffectiveover the years," he said.

People who are struggling withan addiction,getting sick and anxious about not using drugs, often won't think clearly,he said.

"The wholeobsession is, 'I needto get my fix' andthenpeopledo stupid stuff."

Provocative advertising or messaging is often used in anattempt to curb drug-related behaviour. For example, In 1987, Partnership for a Drug-Free Americalaunchedthe popular "This is your brain on drugs" commercial, with anegg in a frying pan meant to represent the effects of drugs. Anti-smoking campaigns have also sought to show the harmful effects of tobacco.

'Tells an entire story'

"In terms of engagement, the old expression is a picture says 1,000words. Well, the right picture can convey a complete story," said branding expert Tony Chapman."Inthis case, this thing tells an entire story."

Chapman predicted the pictures will be used by groups lobbying for safe injection sites andadvocates for stronger drug control.

The photos createimmediate empathy for the child anddisgust for the adults, he said. In a world of social media, theycan be amplified "millions upon millions" of times.

"You drop this one pic into socialmedia and this thing could ripple for years to come.It just has an explosive quality to itagainbecause it just strikes a very powerful emotionalcore."