A cyclist who is riding from Saskatoon to Vancouver in the middle of winter recently made a pit stop in New West.
Iliajah Pidskalny embarked on a 1,600-kilometres bike ride with the goal of raising $20,000 for Moms Stop the Harm and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Along the way, Pidskalny stopped at the Lower Mainland Purpose Society’s offices on Begbie Street, where he toured the New West-based non-profit's harm-reduction services on Jan. 28.
“It’s time (long overdue) for humanity to change its approach on drug policies,” he wrote on his Go Fund Me page. “Let’s look at the research and realize that the war on drugs has been a complete failure. It’s time to stop criminalizing people for needing help. It’s time to start asking ourselves, ‘why are drugs being used in the first place?’ and to shed light on the socioeconomic and psychological factors which coerce people into a life of drug abuse and crime, if not suicide.”
Anyone wishing to follow his journey can go to his Cycle to Stop the Harm page on Facebook. To support his campaign, go to www.gofundme.com and search for Cycle to Stop the Harm.
With the support of Fraser Health and the City of New Westminster, the Purpose Society is working to open a health contact centre at 40 Begbie St. The facility, which would be open daily from 3 to 11 p.m., would provide witnessed consumption, drug testing, harm reduction supplies, take-home naloxone kits, training on naloxone, education on safe drug use, nutritional information, a medical clinic, regular needle sweeps of the neighbourhood and referrals to treatment centres and other economic and/or health services.
Follow Theresa McManus on Twitter @TheresaMcManus
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