Contrary to the Biden administration’s repeated denials, it appears that it is actually financing “safe” pipes for drug addicts.
According to an investigative report posted last week by the Washington Free Beacon,
The findings are the result of Washington Free Beacon visits to five harm-reduction organizations and calls to over two dozen more. In fact, every organization we visited — facilities in Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Richmond, Va. — included crack pipes in the kits.
The outlet posted a picture of the contents of the “safe smoking kits” that are available thanks to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant program, which began in May.
“The kits became the subject of national attention in the wake of a Free Beacon report in February indicating that a $30 million harm-reduction program was set to fund the distribution of free crack pipes in ‘safe-smoking kits’,” the outlet reminded.
As reported by The New American, the grant includes awards of $400,000 for 25 municipal applicants tasked with providing residents with “harm reduction” supplies related to drug use and will run for three years. The funding is provided through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
The goal of the program is to advance “racial equity” and provide “support” for “underserved communities” by reducing the rate of drug overdoses and related health issues such as STDs and other infectious diseases.
“Safe smoking kits/supplies” were also on the list of the HHS program, and the unnamed HHS representative told the Free Beacon that those would include pipes that could be used to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and “any illicit substance.”
Faced with the uproar, top administration officials vehemently denied that drug paraphernalia would be included in the kit.
Then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki denied that the administration would soon begin distributing crack pipes. She called the Free Beacon’s report “inaccurate,” and stated, “[The pipes] were never a part of the kit.” Psaki added that included in the “safe smoking kits” were “alcohol swabs, lip balms, and other materials to promote hygiene and reduce transmission of diseases like HIV and hepatitis.” The program, Psaki said, was designed to address the opioid crisis that was “killing millions of Americans.”
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and the Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta issued a statement, saying, “No federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits.”
HHS spokeswoman Sarah Lovenheim chimed in and clarified that the department “is not distributing crack pipes,” adding that the program will adhere to “state and local laws.”
Mainstream-media “fact-checkers,” such as USA Today, typically quoted official statements to support the claim that crack pipes would not be included in the kits.
The Free Beacon visited non-profit organizations in major cities to see what they were offering to drug addicts and found that the “safe” drug pipes, were, in fact, offered for anyone who’d ask for them.
For example, in Washington, D.C., “just about a mile from the U.S. Capitol and within blocks of two elementary schools,” a harm-reduction center had pipes for crack and meth “readily available.” No ID was required to get the supplies. The center, which had received $3.1 million from the HHS, did not confirm weather it participated in that specific HHS program.
At one such facility run by the Boston Public Health Commission, and visited by the Beacon reporters, the staff asked for their initials, dates of birth, housing situation, and HIV status before offering “an array of drug equipment,” such as crack pipes and various syringes for drug injections. The rule is to get a single pipe and a single syringe to an addict once a day. The report noted that it was unclear if the supplies were provided thanks to the HHS grant.
A harm-reduction center in Richmond, Virginia, could also offer only a pipe for smoking crack.
“To make up for the shortcoming, the employees added a meth pipe along with two ‘snorting kits,’ which include straws, a plastic razor blade to break up drugs, short plastic straws, a small spoon, and a bedazzled playing card to snort drugs off of,” said Free Beacon.
Reporters were offered “a long menu of drug paraphernalia available free of charge” in New York, where they were asked for their initiatives, DOBs, and ZIP codes.
On the “menu” were a “booty bump” kit for rectal ingestion of narcotics and smoking kits that included two pipes — one for crack and one for meth. According to the report, “The center advertises that its pipes are made of Pyrex, a stronger tempered glass designed for high heat.”
In Baltimore, the reporters were given “two smoking kits containing glass crack pipes as well as Chore Boy copper mesh, a cleaning product used to hold the crack rock at the end of the pipe,” as well as instructions on how to properly use it all. While IDs were not required, the reporters were asked to provide their initials, DOBs, and ZIP codes.
Commenting on the new report, the White House called it a “conspiracy theory,” and insisted that no federal money is spent on smoking pipes.
As reported by The New American, following the original Free Beacon report, Senate Republicans introduced the Cutting off Rampant Access to Crack Kits (CRACK) Act, which would prohibit federal funding and distribution of drug paraphernalia.
