Fact Check: Biden Administration's Harm Reduction Programs and Safe Smoking Kits
False
The Biden Administration is funding a multimillion-dollar program with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to provide grants to organizations across the country at the ground level to support harm reduction programs. Part of the grant allows for the purchase and distribution of safe smoking kits - which do not include crack pipes as many have claimed.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently closed applications for its first-ever harm reduction grant program. Ever since then, many Twitter users and media outlets falsely claimed that the Biden Administration was distributing “crack pipes” to drug users and other vulnerable communities. The grant program does allow recipients to purchase equipment and supplies, including “safe smoking kits,” as part of their evidence-based harm reduction strategies. These kits include alcohol swabs, lip balm, and other materials to “promote hygiene and reduce the spread of transmittable diseases” - DHHS and the Administration have clarified that crack pipes are not part of these kits.
What is Harm Reduction?
The SAMHSA harm reduction grant program is part of the Administration's efforts to prevent and treat drug usage and help people who use drugs recover from their addiction through proven strategies that reduce death, disease, and other types of harm associated with drug usage. Harm reduction involves proven techniques that help prevent death and disease, save lives, and help people recover from drug addiction through policies, programs, and practices that address broader health and social issues.
For instance, the US saw a 29% increase in overdose deaths from May 2020 to April 2021 compared to the previous year - about 100,000 deaths that year from overdoses. Safe injection sites (SIFs), spaces where people who use drugs can inject heroin and other narcotics under medical supervision, have proven to reduce overdose deaths and improve health among individuals worldwide, with no concurrent increases in crime. Vancouver actually saw a 35% decrease in overdose deaths in the first two years of its SIF opening.
The Biden Administration has reiterated their priority is saving lives and connecting people with addictions to treatment and recovery. Harm reduction programs and initiatives, like safe smoking kits, are vital tools to address the opioid epidemic, save lives, and help people recover.
References and Further Reading
Megan Loe. ABC10. No, the Biden administration is not funding the distribution of crack pipes. 10 February 2022.
White House. Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki.9 February 2022.
US Department of Health and Human Services. SAMHSA Announces Unprecedented $30 Million Harm Reduction Grant Funding Opportunity to Help Address the Nation's Substance Use and Overdose Epidemic | HHS.gov. 8 December 2022.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Harm Reduction.
Jaime Ducharme. Time Magazine. What to Know About Safe Injection Facilities | Time. 6 February 2018.
Harm Reduction International. What is harm reduction?
