Substance Abuse Action Committee (SAAC)

Obstacle Course Challenge (booking information & guidelines for use – click on tricycle!)

Purpose of SAAC:

The Substance Abuse Action Committee (SAAC) is a community-based committee dedicated to the prevention of substance abuse among residents of Grey and Bruce Counties through education and awareness activities.  The focus is on providing accurate information to allow individuals to make informed choices regarding substance use.

Membership

This group is open to any interested individual or agency.  Current members include:

• Police Services of Grey and Bruce Counties
• School teachers
• Students
• Community Members
• County of Grey Emergency Medical Services
• OSAID (Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving)
• Addiction and prevention agencies (Public Health Unit, CHOICES, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, FOCUS Project)

Committee Activities

1. Obstacle Course Challenge (OCC): SAAC developed this awareness activity to allow participants to physically experience the effects of driving impaired.  Participants ride adult-sized tricycles, wearing ‘Fatal Vision’ goggles that simulate impairment, while attempting to navigate an obstacle course that includes real road signs.  They are scored based upon the number of obstacles hit, staying within the lines, etc.  A nine-panel display is included with this event.  The display features art contest submissions from local high school students that depict various alcohol and other drug abuse messages.  The activity is booked out by community members for various functions, such as church bizarre, science fairs, health fairs, etc.  It is housed in its own trailer for easier transportation and is available to residents of Grey or Bruce County.  Promotional materials have been developed for the OCC, and leaders’ packages that include instructions and promotional materials are sent out ahead of time to groups who book it.
   
   To book this activity for an event in Grey/Bruce, click on the tricycle at top of this page!
    
2. Drug & Alcohol Awareness Week: SAAC is very active in Drug & Alcohol Awareness Week activities.  Activities, such as public events, newspaper articles/ads, etc., are planned with other community agencies/coalitions in order to develop a comprehensive approach based on a common theme of alcohol/drug abuse prevention.
    
3. School-Based Initiative: SAAC plans and implements one school-based initiative per year.  We look for events and activities that can be done in schools to deliver messages to students about substance use prevention. The school events are usually determined by the student members of the committee, as they know best what students their age will like and what types of activities will likely generate the best response.

Examples of past school-based initiatives:

In the spring of 2001, and again in 2002, high school students were the target group of the school-based initiative, as SAAC presented the MoMedia/Obstacle Course Challenge event.  This event involved two parts.  In Part 1, the entire student body attended a showing of a Motivational Media multi-media video that includes messages about alcohol use, other drug use, partying, etc.  Part 2 of this initiative involved five interactive activity stations, developed by SAAC.  The activity stations included:

• Obstacle Course Challenge
• Mocktail Bar (serving of non-alcoholic ‘mocktails’ in luau setting)
• Video (showing various effects of alcohol)
• Alcohol Trivia (police officer runs this station, which includes many questions about alcohol and the law)
• Alternative Activity (activity involving use of the ‘Fatal Vision’ goggles, such as ‘walking the line’)

Another example of a school-based initiative that SAAC has been involved with in the past is the ‘Just Say Me’ magic show, which involved students in grades 4-8.  Just Say Me is “magic with a message” about alcohol and other drug use.  SAAC was involved in the evaluation of this initiative.

Meetings

SAAC members meet on the second Tuesday of each month, except for July and August, at the Grey Bruce Health Unit, from 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. 

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