Leaders weigh in on controversy of Biden Administration using federal dollars for “crack pipes”

MARYLAND– The Biden Administration is facing some heat after talks of trying to curb drug addiction with safe smoking kits.

“So, the controversy is that there is a $30 million grant program in the Substance Abuse Administration that is supposed to be spent on things that will decrease risk of drug abuse in this country,” Congressman Andy Harris, said.

This week was the deadline for organizations and local governments to apply for this money for “harm reduction” efforts to prevent disease among drug addicts.
As part of that effort, organizations could get their hands on smoking kits and supplies.

“It’s a way of meeting people where they are at, not everyone’s ready to stop their substance abuse or their not capable of stopping their substance abuse at that moment,” Curtis Paul, Executive Director of the Recovery Resource Center, said.

But, rumors began to surface that the Biden Administration was using federal dollars to pay for “crack pipes” to smoke illicit drugs.

“This idea of a safe smoking kit was never done before by the federal government and again I think anytime you’re calling smoking crack cocaine or smoking Methamphetamine safe is just ridiculous,” Congressman Harris said.

White House Press Secretary, Jenn Psaki, addressed this by saying the pipes were never part of the kit it was inaccurate reporting.

“It creates even more stigma against harm reduction efforts, so someone that is in active addition that could benefit from the program may be deterred from all this negative controversy surrounding it,” Paul said.

Despite this, Congressman Andy Harris said the bottom line is there is no such thing as a safe smoking kit, and that $30 million needs to be directed somewhere else.

“I think we should be securing our Southern border, we should be again ceasing as much fentanyl we can crossing the border and we should punish people who sell illegal drugs, that’s the way we should be spend our money not providing free needles for drug addicts or safe smoking kits,” Congressman Harris said.

The White House said the safe smoking kits will contain alcohol swabs, lip balm, and other materials to promote hygiene and reduce the transmission of diseases.

Congressman Harris also said he thinks more treatment centers should be available to people who are seeking help for their drug habits.