Samuel Case, FISM News
A new Biden administration grant will fund nonprofits and local governments to make drug use safer for addicts. The $30 million grant will prioritize applicants who serve “underserved communities,” such as racial minorities or members of the LGBTQ community.
“The purpose of the program is to support community-based overdose prevention programs, syringe services programs, and other harm reduction services,” the HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said in its announcement.
The grant is part of Health and Human Services “Harm Reduction Plan,” and contains a controversial measure to provide “smoking kits/supplies” for crack and meth users. HHS says these kits are intended to limit infections, as the commonly used glass pipes can cause cuts and sores.
Local governments, including San Francisco and Seattle, have implemented similar distribution programs in the past. Other cities have abandoned such policies citing counter-productive results. Louisville previously allowed drug paraphernalia to be sold at convenience stores, until being outlawed in 2018.
The grant will also fund the purchase of syringes, infectious diseases testing kits, safe sex kits (including condoms), and overdose reversal medication, among a list of other “harm reduction” supplies.
The HHS program has received strong pushback from Republicans. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) decried the grant as “insanity” in a video-statement posted to Twitter.
Biden is sending free meth & crack pipes to minority communities in the name of ‘racial equity’
There is no end in sight for this lunacy https://t.co/RLv6cAuLCt pic.twitter.com/WdlzOojkdF
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 8, 2022
Former Georgia Congresswoman and niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior, Alveda King, condemned the program on her Instagram page, saying,“I cannot think of a worse gift that Joe Biden could give to the African American community during Black History Month than free crack pipes! What a terrible idea to help continue to enslave generations of drug addicts.”
Meanwhile the Justice Department is still “evaluating” whether safe injection sites can be opened in the United States. These sites already operate in other Western countries and in the U.S. New York City opened its first “overdose prevention centers” in November. The DOJ said it’s currently in “discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites.”