© Eric Risberg / AP fileSupplies on display on a check-in desk at Safer Inside, a realistic model of a safe injection site in San Francisco, on Aug. 29, 2018.
A year after winning a major court battle against the opening of so-called safe injection sites -- safe havens for people to use
heroin and other narcotics with protections against fatal overdoses — the
Justice Department is signaling it might be open to allowing them.
In response to questions from The Associated Press, the Justice Department said it is "evaluating" such facilities and talking to regulators about "appropriate guardrails."
The position is a drastic change from its stance in the Trump administration, when prosecutors
fought vigorously against a plan to open a safe consumption site in Philadelphia. The Justice Department
won a lawsuit last year, when a federal appeals court in Pennsylvania ruled that opening such a facility would violate a 1980s-era drug law, aimed at "crackhouses," which bans operating a place for taking illegal drugs. The Supreme Court
declined in October to take the case.
Comment: If safe spaces weren't enough The Washington Free Beacon
reported that the Biden administration is "set to fund the distribution of crack pipes within safe smoking kits to drug addicts as part of its plan to advance "racial inequality"", sounds far-fetched, right? Read on...
The $30 million grant program, which closed applications Monday and will begin in May, will provide funds to nonprofits and local governments to help make drug use safer for addicts. Included in the grant, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, are funds for "smoking kits/supplies." A spokesman for the agency told the Washington Free Beacon that these kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and "any illicit substance."
HHS said the kits aim to reduce the risk of infection when smoking substances with glass pipes, which can lead to infections through cuts and sores. Applicants for the grants are prioritized if they treat a majority of "underserved communities," including African Americans and "LGBTQ+ persons," as established under President Joe Biden's executive order on "advancing racial equity."
Democratic-run cities such as San Francisco and Seattle have distributed smoking kits to residents. Some local governments, however, have in recent years backed away from their smoking kit programs over concerns they enable drug abuse. Louisville, Ky., for example, allowed convenience stores to sell smoking kits but later banned them. Legislators in Maryland ditched their distribution plan after facing backlash from local law enforcement and African-American leaders.
Sgt. Clyde Boatwright, president of the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police, said government resources are better spent on preventing drug abuse rather than making it safer.
"If we look at more of a preventive campaign as opposed to an enabling campaign, I think it will offer an opportunity to have safer communities with fewer people who are dependable on these substances," Boatwright told the Free Beacon.
Funding for the "harm reduction" grant program is provided through Democrats' American Rescue Plan, which the Senate passed along party lines after Vice President Kamala Harris cast a tie-breaking vote. Other equipment that qualifies for funding include syringes, vaccinations, disease screenings, condoms, and fentanyl strips. The grant program will last three years and includes 25 awards of up to $400,000.
An HHS spokesman declined to specify what is included in the smoking kits. Similar distribution efforts provide mouthpieces to prevent glass cuts, rubber bands to prevent burns, and filters to minimize the risk of disease.
It is against federal law to distribute or sell drug paraphernalia unless authorized by the government.
HHS hit back saying that the Free Beacon's claims were misinformation:
The source of the misconception seems to be a story in the Washington Free Beacon, which inaccurately stated that pipes would be provided for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and 'any illicit substance,'" Jorge Silva, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for Human Services, told The Palm Beach Post in an email Wednesday evening.
According to Silva, the response provided to The Washington Beacon reporter actually said this: "The proposal of using grant funds to purchase supplies for safe smoking kits must be justified by Harm Reduction Program applicants as to how they contribute to preventing and controlling the spread of infectious disease in the Harm Reduction Grant application. Harm reduction programs that use federal funding must adhere to federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and other requirements related to such programs or services. SAMHSA does not specify the kits' elements - only the parameters."
So basically, grant applicants CAN distribute smoking supplies as long as they can justify it?
Three senators have already
written to HHS demanding answers:
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Susan Collins (Maine), and Joe Manchin (W.Va.), all of whom serve on the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra seeking answers regarding HHS's recent funding opportunity announcement that could open the door for taxpayer dollars to be used to purchase and distribute drug paraphernalia, such as pipes for using crack cocaine or crystal meth.
Comment: Not likely to end well for Adams. He's going to be left holding the bag for continuing De Blasio's disastrous policies.