Biden Enrages Conservatives By Supporting Harm Reduction With Safe Drug Kits

What began as a harm reduction program aimed at preventing “infectious disease, overdose and other negative outcomes related to” drug use has become a conservative rallying cry against “crack pipe distribution” for “racial equality.”

The outcry from conservatives comes after the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced a harm reduction grant program aimed at providing local governments and organizations with tools to mitigate the impact of drug addiction and overdose.

President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has struggled with substance abuse and addiction in the past, so this is a personal issue for the Biden family. The president supports the grant's aim to “provide overdose prevention education to their target populations regarding the consumption of substances including but not limited to opioids and their synthetic analogs.”

One way to mitigate the harm that can often come to addicts and abusers is to offer safe ways to use drugs, including clean needles, safe syringe exchanges, fentanyl test kits, opioid reversal drugs and pipes used to take drugs like cocaine. The plan will cost $30 million.

With the grant, SAMHSA aims to “support community-based overdose prevention programs, syringe services programs and other harm-reduction services.”

Underserved communities — low-income, Black, Native American and the LGBTQIA2S+ communities — will be the groups the administration intends to focus efforts on to mitigate the effects of the opioid crisis. Cities and states across the country have already implemented such programs in the past, including the recent addition of New York state.

But conservative voices from the GOP are voicing their outrage over the program, using rhetoric such as “funding crack pipe distribution" to "advance racial equity,” “free meth” and keeping “the border open” and letting “the fentanyl in,” among other comments designed to undermine the administration’s plan.

“Will you have to show your vaccine passport to get your crack pipe?” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, posted on Twitter.

“I’m sure there’s heavy debate on whether Biden should give the crack pipe contract to China or Pfizer. Hard choice for Biden,” wrote Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.

Proponents of the plan accused conservatives of playing on the stigma that often prevents more harm-reduction methods from being put in place.

“Funds may also be used to help address the stigma often associated with risky behaviors and participation in harm-reduction activities,” SAMHSA pointed out.