Crime Prevention and Community Safety

Racing Against Drugs

The Chatham-Kent Racing Against Drugs Committee has been in existence since 1995. This committee membership is composed of representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Chatham-Kent O.P.P. St. Clair Catholic District School Board, Lambton-Kent District School Board, Conseil Scolaire De District Des Ecoles Catholiques Du Sud-Ouest, Chatham Christian School, Chatham-Kent Block Parent Program Inc., Chatham-Kent Public Health Division and the Chatham-Kent Police Service.

Each year plans are made to host a Racing Against Drugs Event in cooperation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Racing against drugs is designed to promote good choices and healthy, drug-free lifestyles.

Racing Against Drugs is a community based drug and alcohol awareness program. This program involves 16 pit stops or information sessions that are presented by health care professionals, law enforcement agencies, emergency medical providers, fire prevention officers, and railway and transportation safety officers.

Approximately 1500 grade five level students attend from the St. Clair Catholic District School Board, Lambton-Kent District School Board, Conseil Scolaire De District Des Ecoles Catholiques Du Sud-Quest and private schools and Christian Schools in Chatham-Kent attend this event.

Young people at a very early age in today’s society need to be able to make good informed decisions on why they should choose a healthy, drug free life style, the alternative addictions and health problems isn’t good for them or our health care system.

The Racing Against Drugs Event provides 16 different pit stops or opportunities for community health care professionals such as the Lung Association, the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit or Police to tell their anti drug use stories and use displays to re-enforce the message. At one display students observe a healthy set of pig lungs and then see the effects when tobacco smoke is introduced to the lungs. At another display an officer shows the students samples of street drugs and explains how there is no quality control on the drug, you never know what is in the substance or what the potency of the drug is or how it will effect your body.

“Featured Pit Stop is a Large Oval Race Track”
This racetrack allows the students the opportunity to experience the excitement of racing by competing on a professionally built 1:24 scale slot car track. The students compete in teams with one school in competition against the others. Winners are the students that understand that when racing you have to make a choice to race the car at a safe speed or it goes off the track and it takes time to get back on track, young people who make a wrong choice to use drugs find out the hard way that drugs take you off track, they affect your grades, the relationships you have with family, friends, and others and quite often causes health problems down the road of life.
The winning school team is presented with a trophy.