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The Belle Vernon Area Reality Tour will present their first reality tour on Monday, September 8, 6 to 9 p.m. at the Belle Vernon Area High School, 425 Crest Ave., Belle Vernon.

The Reality Tour Drug Prevention Program was created by Norma Norris of Butler, PA in 2003 and is now promoted through the non-profit CANDLE, Inc. The Belle Vernon Area Reality Tour has purchased the Reality Tour Program for use in Westmoreland County. The tour is recommended for children ages 10 and up when accompanied by a parent. Advance registration is necessary, as space is limited. Parental consent is also required.

Participants will follow the fate of a fictitious teen addicted to drugs. The tour includes an arrest and prison experience as well as dramatic emergency room overdose scene and funeral scene. A narrative by the "addict" precedes each scene and includes the constant reminder to the audience that, "I'm just like you."

Each attendee will be given a drug abuse profile to adopt during the program, so that participants can become familiar with difference addictive drugs as well as gateway drugs. At times, attendees share their "story" of addiction in small group settings. Participants will have an opportunity to talk with an addict in recovery at end of the program. Attendees can commit to a drug-free life by tracing their handprint on the Reality Tour banner.

The Reality Tour was developed as a response to the rising drug use among teens who mistakenly then they won't become addicted.

Pre-registration for the Belle Vernon Area Reality Tour program is required and registration forms are available at www.realitytour.org. Upcoming Belle Vernon Area Reality Tour dates are September 8, October 13, November 10, December 8, January 12, February 9, March 9, and April 13. For more information, email bellevernonarearealitytour@gmail.com.

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