ANTI-DRUG MARCH PLANS TO SEND MESSAGE OF HOPE

If only one person takes the time to listen and finds an opening for hope,
then this Saturday's Anti-Drug March in Lacombe will be a success,
according to its organizers...

If only one person takes the time to listen and finds an opening for hope,
then this Saturday's Anti-Drug March in Lacombe will be a success,
according to its organizers.

"Prevention is better than a cure," said Ted Deer, vice-president of the
Theology Club at Canadian University College, the group's organizing the
march set for April 16.

Not a religious event by nature, organizers say the anti-drug march is more
than a procession of proactive citizens concerned about drug and alcohol
abuse. The hope is to emphasize how easily drugs and alcohol can destroy
lives, and let everyone know that substance abuse isn't a problem limited
to urban centres.

The march itself is a jaunt that starts at 3 p.m. at Terrace Ridge School
on C&E Trail and continues to downtown Lacombe. Parts of C&E Trail will be
closed periodically from 3 to 4:30 p.m., to make room for march, which will
be led by the Red Deer Royals marching band. Other planned events, include
messages from guest speakers and a display of half a dozen informational
booths.

Members of the Lacombe Police Service, Mayor Judy Gordon and Lacombe-Ponoka
MLA Ray Prins are scheduled to take part.

Drug and alcohol awareness groups like the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Commission (AADAC) plans to have a booth on display inside the Lacombe
Memorial Centre (LMC).

Recovering substance-abusers will share their personal stories inside the
LMC following the march.

Mathew Seeley, a CUC religious studies student and a member of the Theology
Club, hopes young people will learn from mistakes he's already made.

Seeley, 23, said he started dabbling in drugs as a 14-year-old while living
in his hometown of Toronto. Like many teens, his experience started with
'recreational drugs' like pot, but gradually escalated to include LSD,
ecstasy, crystal meth and cocaine--whatever was popular in Toronto's rave
scene.

"I was a heavy user for about three years," said Seeley. "That was the
route a lot of my friends were taking in high school."

As his drug habit took control of his life, Seeley turned to crime and
stealing. Bikes were an easy source of potential revenue that could be used
to find or sustain a high.

The allure of drugs faded and Seeley realized his life was heading in the
wrong direction.

"I enjoyed the high, but I didn't enjoy the bad the rest of my life. Once
the high is gone, life's not so happy."

Seeley credits God and the support of his girlfriend for helping him turn
things around.

"I looked at myself in the eyes of another person and I saw that things
weren't good," he explained. "God kind of filled the void I was trying to
fill with drugs."

Looking back on the life he left behind, and the old friends who are either
mired in addiction or in jail, Seeley said he's extremely lucky. And he's
hoping someone is listening.

"There's something better than a life full of drugs."