‘Safe’crack pipes

WH denies use of federal funds

Crack pipes are being given out to addicts at some so-called safe druguse sites in major cities along the East Coast via organizations that could qualify for funding from the Biden administration, according to a new report.

The Washington Free Beacon found that five sites in Boston, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Richmond, Va., included the hard drug pipes in so-called “safe smoking kits” — though it remains unclear if any have applied for or will receive funds from the administration’s $30 million Harm Reduction Program Grant that will be doled out later this month.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced the grant program in February, saying it would pay for “required harm reduction activities” that the money must be used for, including the purchase of “equipment and supplies to enhance harm reduction efforts, such as … safe smoking kits/supplies.”

At the time, the Free Beacon cited a HHS spokesperson as saying the safe smoking kits and supplies would include crack pipes, but the department quickly called the report “inaccurate.”

“The Harm Reduction Grant … is a grant program designed to help Americans who are struggling with substance use stay healthy and safe, prevent overdose death, and find pathways into evidencebased treatments. Like all programs that use federal funding, these grants must adhere to relevant federal, state and local laws or regulations,” the initial spokesperson had told the outlet, not mentioning pipes in the response.

“SAMHSA does not specify the kits’ elements — only the parameters.”

‘Inaccurate’

The White House quickly defended the program, with press secretary Jen Psaki telling reporters that such pipes “were never a part of the kit.”

“It was inaccurate reporting and we wanted to put out information to make that clear,” she said.

HHS at the time also directly denied any federal funding “will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits.”

In response to the Free Beacon’s Thursday report, Psaki reiterated that “no federal funding” had gone to purchase the pipes obtained by the outlet.

In New York, the Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center provides pipes — for smoking crack cocaine as well as meth — and smoking literature, the Free Beacon found. The center reportedly has received $20 million in funding from HHS since 2004.