The Patriot Post® · Crack History Month

We haven’t even made it to the middle of Black History Month and already the Biden administration is turning it into a race to see who can smoke crack and methamphetamine the safest. Black History Month has turned into Crack History Month. During the Reagan administration, it was considered “The War on Drugs.” Today, we have a war to fight for the racial equity to smoke illegal substances safely. Did you read what I just wrote? Can you come up with a more asinine way of telling a minority community that you care?

The Biden administration has no shame in digging a deeper political hole for itself. Applications closed last week for a new $30 million grant program called the Harm Reduction Program. This grant is supposed to provide “safe measures” for illicit drug users to get high without harm. Oxymoronic, maybe? It’s like telling teenagers that wearing a condom is “safe sex” when in fact teenagers don’t think about safety when it comes to illicit sex. They are thinking about pleasuring themselves much like illicit drug users and abusers.

The target audience for the Harm Reduction Program are “undeserved communities and LGBTQ+ persons,” a.k.a. black folks in the inner city and the homosexual community. This is President Biden’s executive order for “advancing racial equity.” What do free glass pipes and syringes for smoking and/or injecting illicit drugs have to do with race or equity? My wild guess is maybe it’s a way to equal the playing field of drug overdoses. When you find out let me know.

If you want to understand something, you must understand the purpose of it. “The [purpose] of the program is to support community-based overdose prevention programs, syringe services programs, and other harm reduction services,” the grant said. Why is the Biden administration all of a sudden backtracking? This Department of Health and Human Services statement was released Wednesday:

Today, on the heels of organizations applying for grant money for harm reduction efforts, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and the Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta released the following statement:

“HHS and ONDCP are focused on using our resources smartly to reduce harm and save lives. Accordingly, no federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kit. The goal of harm reduction is to save lives. The Administration is focused on a comprehensive strategy to stop the spread of drugs and curb addiction, including prioritizing the use of proven harm reduction strategies like providing naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and clean syringes, as well as taking decisive actions to go after violent criminals who are trafficking illicit drugs like fentanyl across our borders and into our communities. We will continue working to address the addiction and overdose epidemic and ensure that our resources are used in the smartest and most efficient manner.”

The New York Times reports, “According to Harm Reduction International, a London-based nongovernmental organization, such kits can contain rubber mouthpieces, brass screens, lip balm, disinfectant wipes and glass stems.” The “glass stems” can be used for crack, methamphetamine, and opioids. This is equal opportunity for drug abusers. The Times ads, “The [Department of Health and Human Services] did not respond when asked by The New York Times if glass pipes were ever allowable under the grant provisions.” You can do the math as to why HHS didn’t respond to that specific question.

In response to the Biden administration’s backpedaling on the grant details, Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Kassandra Frederique stated:

Backtracking on providing critical evidence-based resources that could greatly improve the health of people who consume drugs through smoking is a huge missed opportunity that will disproportionately be felt in Black and Indigenous communities, especially as these communities have experienced some of the sharpest increases in overdose deaths involving fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Despite nearly identical rates of drug use in Black and white communities, Black, Indigenous, and communities of color have long been disproportionately criminalized and treated with handcuffs and rap sheets — as we remember all too well from the 80s and 90s with the “crack epidemic” — instead of the public health tools they need to live healthier and more stable lives. …

We applaud the Biden administration for the steps they have taken to advance harm reduction and advocate for the funding needed to supply needed resources and save lives, but they must stand firm against misinformation and continue the course to deploy all evidence-based solutions, including all forms of safer smoking supplies, to save lives now.

Crack is out of whack, but I will let you draw your own conclusions on whether the Biden administration’s Harm Reduction Program is taking these measures for “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.”