PATS TELL DRUG HORROR STORIES

Imagine watching a woman lying flat on a sidewalk, head thrown to the
side and hair pulled back, while an unidentified person injects a
needle full of narcotics into her neck.

Now imagine how a child between nine and 13 years old would perceive
it.

This image was part of a Project First Goal video shown to more than
180 students in grades 5 through 8 at W.S. Hawrylak School on Tuesday.

The presentation was done by the Regina Pats, in partnership with the
Regina Police Service, the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP.
The goal of the program is to raise awareness of drug abuse.

In November, Pats players Jordan Eberle, Victor Bartley, Matt Strueby,
Mitch Czibere and Colton Teubert were selected for the program.
Together -- with police escorts -- they spent a night walking through
the drug-riddled Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

"It was unbelievable. People came from all walks of life. It's just
scary to see people could actually end up in a place like (that),"
said 21-year-old Bartley, the Pats' captain.

The presentation starts with a video that follows the players in
Vancouver and includes many raw interviews with people who live there
- -- including the young prostitute who had drugs injected into her neck.

After the video, the team members answered questions and shared
stories with the students.

"When I saw people injecting needles into them, it was scary to see.
But all the people, they have specific reasons why they're like this,"
said Roisin Neary, a Grade 8 student at Hawrylak.

Neary's classmate, Trang Nguyen, echoed the same understanding.

"Before the presentation, I kind of knew what the Eastside of
Vancouver was about. But when I saw the presentation, I realized that
these people aren't all psychos. They're normal people, but they just
messed up their life with drugs," said Nguyen.

When it comes to the kids, Bartley enjoys getting out there and
sharing the message. The feedback, he said, has been great.

"The kids just eat it up," said Const. Rene Shank of the RCMP. "It's
so much more effective coming from (the players), than it is coming
from me as a policeman or from a teacher or from a parent even."

Project First Goal has been ongoing for the last four years. More
information is available under the community link on the Pats' website
( www.reginapats.com ).