Pubdate: Tue, 22 Apr 2003 Source: Medicine Hat News (CN AB) Copyright: 2003 Alberta Newspaper Group, Inc. Contact: http://www.medicinehatnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1833 Author: Lissa Swihart EVENT TACKLES CRACK COCAINE Hundreds of Hatters participated in 12 hours of music, skateboarding and hairstyling at a Monday event dedicated to fighting crack cocaine in Medicine Hat. Cracked in the Coulee at the Medicine Hat Cypress Centre took on a subject that many in attendance said was daunting. Alison Holmes, 14, invited a group of her friends to attend the event. "My mom told me about it and we didn't have school so we thought we'd check it out," she said. "It's good that they put on things like this." Cracked in the Coulee featured skateboarding demos by The Boarding House performances by bands including Sundance, Mustang, Inverdale, Ramshakle and Weed Monkey. Shelly Heinrichs, vice-president of the Medicine Hat and District Barbers and Beauticians Association, organized the event to shine some light on the presence of crack cocaine in Medicine Hat and surrounding communities. "I'm happy with the event but I wish we could reach more people," she said. "People are afraid to even talk about crack. "Through the whole process of organizing this event I discovered that there are a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to crack. Some people want as much information as possible about it and others want to sweep everything under the rug and bury their heads in the sand like ostriches." Heinrichs said she received a lot of positive feedback from attendees and hopes the event will help battle the fear and stigma attached to crack. Karen Mahar of Medicine Hat attended Cracked in the Coulee with her family. "It's difficult because you don't know how to talk to your kids about drugs so something like this really helps," she said. Cole Bertrand, 17, was one of the skateboarders riding on behalf of the boarding house. He said it's good to see an event like Cracked in the Coulee and kids need to learn how to say no to drugs. "I don't really know what will keep kids off drugs but I think getting into skateboarding or something positive will help." Fourteen-year-old Zach Friess said Cracked in the Coulee likely reached the kids who don't do drugs but may not reach those experimenting with drugs already. "It's good to have an event like this because kids will come for the bands but can learn about drugs while they're here." AADAC, DARE, Family Services, the Youth Action Society, PLENA, the John Howard Society, Alberta Tobacco Reduction and Narcotics Anonymous all participated in the event, too. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex