OLDS — An addiction prevention and mental health promotion event was held the evening of Sept. 7 at the Olds College of Agriculture & Technology’s wetlands.
The event, called Taco ‘Bout The Hard Stuff, was organized by the Olds and Area Substance Use Coalition and held in honour of International Overdose Awareness Day.
International Overdose Awareness Day was actually held Aug. 31, but organizers early September was a better time to hold this event, with school starting.
Vendors on hand included Addition & Mental Health, the college, and other community resources as well as the Red Deer-based Turning Point Harm Reduction Society. Members of Olds RCMP made an appearance as well.
Attendees were encouraged to visit several booths that were set up by various groups promoting harm reduction strategies.
The idea was to talk to people about harm reduction, give parents or caregivers tips on how to talk to kids about substance abuse and promote resources regarding harm reduction that are available in the community.
Tacos were given out to the first 80 people who attended and filled out passports showing they’d attended the booths.
A sign placed at the entrance to the event said “Come for the tacos, stay for the harm reduction.”
One of the most popular booths, operated by the Turning Point Harm Reduction Society, provided access to Naloxone kits and training on how to use them.
Naloxone is a drug used to quickly and temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.
At one point, the crowd taking in that presentation was at least three people deep.
Amanda Hopper, a college residential assistant and first-year land and water resources student, was among those people.
She said she attended the event for a couple of reasons.
“Part of it is getting the community involved, especially with the residents. And the other part is this is interesting. There’s all kinds of events that we do here that are educational and fun,” she said.
Hopper picked up a free Naloxone kit. She was asked if she thinks she’ll be using it.
“I hope not, I really hope not,” she said, adding she figures it’s “just a precautionary thing.”
“I have yet to see anybody be (in need of one),” Hopper said. “It’s just better to be safe than sorry, right?”
Another very popular booth, operated by campus nurse Rayann Conrad, contained two small toilets.
Attendees were encouraged to put on goggles that simulated high-level cannabis and cocaine use or extreme intoxication from alcohol. They were then asked try to throw Oreo cookies into the toilets.
Most who tried to do so, failed to get the cookies anywhere near their target. Nonetheless, they were rewarded with miniature squishy toilets and/or with cookies that hadn’t gone in either toilet.
Kaden Feil, a land reclamation student originally from Turner Valley, was among those who tried the Toss Your Cookies game.
He was asked if it was harder to throw the cookies accurately than he thought.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “The drunk one is, it’s impossible.”
Feil was asked if he thought the game was educational.
“I think it is. I think it’s purposeful. Yeah,” he said.
Conrad was asked if she believes the game will change the minds of people who consume drugs or drink a lot of alcohol.
"I don’t think it’ll change minds. I think it’s just good to spread that awareness,” she said.
Conrad said at the time, doing drugs or drinking alcohol may seem like “it’s all fun and games” but it’s dangerous.
“It can actually change your body, change your system. It affects how you function," she said.
“We’re not saying ‘don’t party, don’t have fun’ but ‘just ‘do it safely, have a plan, do it softly,’ you know,” Conrad added.
Spokesman Dallas Ferguson of the Central Alberta FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) Network, says up to 50 people attended the event and they served 30 tacos. As a result, as far as organizers are concerned, it was a success because they were able to raise awareness and provide supports for people who may be struggling with substance abuse.
"We believe this is a great number of people for the first time the event was held at the Olds College. Of course, we always hope to reach as many people as we can," she wrote in an email.
The group hopes to make Taco 'Bout The Hard Stuff an annual event.
