Racing Against Drugs at Belmont Arena

Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police Constable Troy Carlson spoke to St. Thomas area Grade 5 pupils at the OPP’s “pit stop” that helped them learn resistance skills like changing the subject and walking away to avoid further contact with street drugs and those peddling them during the Racing Against Drugs event at Belmont Arena on Tuesday, May 12. Over 650 pupils from Elgin-St. Thomas were to attend either a morning or afternoon session of the three day event from May 12-14. Other safety-related “pit stops” that the children visited included a Fire Hazard House by St. Thomas and Central Elgin Fire Services, a Mothers Against Drunk Driving goggle impairment simulation, Elgin St. Thomas Public Health’s interactive anti-tobacco games and St. Thomas Police Service’s Street Smart presentation. Other pit stops included an Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre presentation on the role of corrections in the justice system, an RCMP presentation teaching pupils about the dangers of the most common street drugs, a presentation on how not to fall to peer pressure when it comes to using drugs by Elgin-St. Thomas Emergency Medical Services and an interactive race car game designed to raise awareness about youth problem gambling by Addictions Services of Thames Valley.