As outrage from the right, many of which had racial undertones, erupted online, the White House was forced to defend itself.
In a joint statement, Rahul Gupta, White House Drug Policy Advisor Rahul Becerra stated that no federal funding would be used to reimburse grantees for safe smoking devices.
Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, stated that it was not in the White House’s intention to pay for drugs pipes. She also claimed that inaccurate reporting had created such an impression.
Monday was the deadline to submit applications for federal funding to help reduce harm and injury to drug addicts. Harm reduction is the provision of a place where drug users can inject drugs and be monitored for overdoses. This controversial idea has been criticized by some, but it was a practical approach to preventing bad situations from getting worse.
In the original Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration funding request, “safe smoking supplies” was listed as one of the items that could have been purchased with taxpayer money. These were included in a dozen categories, including overdose prevention drugs and medication lockboxes. They also include test kits for infectious disease and syringe disposal container. Although pipes were not mentioned in the grant solicitation, they could be part of safe smoking kit.
Daniel Raymond, the director of policy at the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable said that only a handful of programs in the U.S. have distributed safe smoking kits.
Raymond stated that none of Raymond’s claims were made with federal funds. “I am very confident in stating that. If that were true, I would have known.
However, reports that the Biden administration used federal funds to pay for “crackpipes” continued to circulate. Some Republican senators continued to criticize the administration.
Social media was dominated by misleading claims about HHS Program early Wednesday. Many of these were made by conservative commentators and Republican politicians, who shared memes and tweets that had received tens to thousands of likes.
Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton tweeted: “Last Week, Biden spoke about being tough against crime. Biden Administration announced this week funds for crack pipe distribution in order to “advance racism equity.”
On Tuesday night, Sen. Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee tweeted: “End government funded crack pipes.”
In a Twitter video, Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida called the purported pipe distribution “insanity”. It had 250,000 views as of Wednesday afternoon. He said that the Biden administration would send crack pipes and meth pipes to minority communities across the country.
Some social media users went so far as to claim that Biden and other Democrats would hand out crack pipes during Black History Month.
On Twitter, Errol Webber, a Black Republican candidate in California’s 47th Congressional District stated that Joe Biden was handing out crack pipes to aid ‘racial equality ‘…’ during Black History Month. “No, I’m not kidding. “No, I’m not lying.” This is his view of our community.
Sarah Lovenheim, a spokesperson for HHS, tweeted that such reports are “blatant misinformation” and Wednesday’s White House briefing Psaki stated that paying for pipes was not part of the plan.
Psaki stated that they were not part of the kit. “It was incorrect reporting, and we wanted to make it clear.”
Rubio released a press release late Wednesday saying that the Biden administration acknowledged that sending crack pipes to addicts in our country was a bad idea.
Advocates for harm reduction feared that the scandal would make it harder to get drug users out from the shadows.
Leo Beletsky is a professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University School of Law. He expressed disappointment in the White House’s response.
Beletsky stated that the administration repeatedly said they would make harm reduction a priority. They backtrack as soon as they hear some right-wing echo chamber opposition to something sound and scientifically based. They put their tail between the legs and pushed their back pedal.
Administration officials Becerra, Gupta stated that they stand by “proven harm-reduction strategies such as providing naloxone and fentanyl testing strips and clean syringes.” HHS pointed out, however, that harm reduction grants must be compliant with federal, state, and local laws. Crack pipes are also illegal in many jurisdictions.
Pipes made from homemade crack and methamphetamine can break easily or release toxic fumes. Safer pipes could be part of the kit.
Raymond stated that they can also include other supplies such as alcohol wipes or pipes to clean hands, or lip balm to treat chapped lips. These give-away kits are a great way to have a dialogue with drug addicts and point them in the right direction.
