AUDIO – IT’S SO 1980s –

Feb. 9, 2022 – “These comments are misleading and misinformed,” an HHS spokesperson told McClatchy News in a statement about the crack pipe claims that have sparked some outrage online. The program is meant to “support community-based overdose prevention programs, syringe services programs, and other harm reduction services,” according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of HHS that’s in charge of the grant program. It’s authorized under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, according to the grant document. “No federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and the Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta said in a statement Feb. 9. “The goal of harm reduction is to save lives.” The agency said the funding is going “to enhance overdose and other types of prevention activities to help control the spread of infectious diseases and the consequences of such diseases for individuals with, or at risk of developing substance use disorders.” A day before Becerra’s statement, news suggesting the false claim spread rapidly and unleashed waves of criticism from conservatives including Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who wrote the president “is sending free meth & crack pipes to minority communities in the name of ‘racial equity,’” Feb. 8 on Twitter.

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