*Correction: A previous headline for this story stated “Biden Admin To Fund Crack Pipes, Heroin For Drug Addicts”. The headline has been updated to clarify that the administration will grant money for safe syringe programs, which fund the distribution of clean needles, not heroin itself.
President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly planning to facilitate drug use with a policy agenda reminiscent of those deployed in some major blue cities like San Francisco.
Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) closed grant applications Monday for a plan to fund the distribution of crack pipes to drug addicts, according to a single anonymous source cited by the Washington Free Beacon. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) told The Associated Press Friday it’s open to allowing “safe injection sites” where drug addicts can use heroin and other dangerous drugs in an environment with protections against overdoses.
The Biden administration is set to fund the distribution of crack pipes to drug addicts as part of its plan to advance “racial equity.”
Via @PatrickHauf https://t.co/OK7izmEdz6
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) February 7, 2022
The crack pipe grant program will distribute $30 million to local governments and nonprofits in an attempt to make drug use safer, and it will begin in May, according to the WFH. HHS reportedly said it will provide “smoking kits/supplies” for addicts to reduce risks of infection when smoking with glass pipes.
In accordance with Biden’s executive order for “advancing racial equality,” grant money will be prioritized for institutions which serve people of color and LGBT communities, according to the Washington Free Beacon. (RELATED: San Francisco Will Pay People Not To Shoot Other Citizens)
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a statement Wednesday denying that crack pipes would be included in safe smoking kits paid for by the grant program: “HHS and ONDCP are focused on using our resources smartly to reduce harm and save lives. Accordingly, no federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits. The goal of harm reduction is to save lives. The Administration is focused on a comprehensive strategy to stop the spread of drugs and curb addiction, including prioritizing the use of proven harm reduction strategies like providing naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and clean syringes, as well as taking decisive actions to go after violent criminals who are trafficking illicit drugs like fentanyl across our borders and into our communities.”
Under the Trump administration, the DOJ won a lawsuit in 2021 to prevent the opening of a safe injection site in Philadelphia. Now, the agency told the AP it’s “evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety.”
Some Democrat-run cities like San Francisco, Seattle and New York have experimented in recent years with safe injection sites and safe smoking programs. Nearly 1,400 people have died in San Francisco in the past two years of drug overdoses. In one new safe drug use site in the city, which has been open 19 days, just two people went to detox so far of the roughly 220 users per day, according to author Michael Shellenberger.
Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin neighborhood in January due to excessive drug overdoses. Six hundred and fifty people died in the city of overdoses in 2021, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.