WA: reality bites - meth mouth no myth

From the Seattle Times:

Meth users' dental bills eating up taxpayer money

Rae's teeth throbbed with pain as the guards led him from his prison cell to a chair in the dental clinic at the Monroe Correctional Complex.

A short time later, seven of the convicted meth cook's teeth, left rotted and infected after years of abusing the homemade drug, were removed from his mouth...

Rae says he hasn't used the drug in more than three years.

"I lost everything I own as far as physical possessions. I can't believe I let something like that possess me," he said of his addiction to meth. "I'm glad it was only my teeth, not my life, that I lost."

From the Olympian:

Fixing meth addicts teeth takes bite out of state prison budget

About 40 percent of the state's annual dental budget for prisoners in Washington goes toward repairing or removing teeth ravaged by methamphetamine...

See also Dental care for meth users behind bars costs taxpayers millions