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.
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