It seems that the Biden administration miscalculated pretty spectacularly on the whole distributing-free-crack-pipes-to-drug-addicts-in-the-name-of-racial equity thing.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and ONDCP Director Rahul Gupta issued a statement yesterday clarifying that “no federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits.” What they failed to clarify was whether they had originally intended to include crack pipes in the kits. For what it was worth, Jen Psaki said that crack pipes weren’t included. Of course, she couldn’t explain why Biden’s HHS had been unable to offer any evidence that the Washington Free Beacon’s reporting consisted of “blatant misinformation.”
HHS seems to confirm @PatrickHauf and @FreeBeacon's reporting while also calling it "blatant misinformation" https://t.co/7C9fOuujBS pic.twitter.com/NiRKxTPawm
— Sam Dorman (@DormanInDc) February 8, 2022
New HHS stmnt (I had asked which aspect of @FreeBeacon’s reporting was misinformation, what the HHS spox meant when commenting to the Beacon, and whether they’re funding distrib. of crack pipes/other items for harm reduction) @TomCottonAR pic.twitter.com/lfcfT0fo0H
— Sam Dorman (@DormanInDc) February 9, 2022
If you didn’t buy Psaki’s spin on this, you had good reason not to:
Recommended
Me in @unherd on crack-pipe-gate and "misinformation," featuring a bizarre email exchange in which HHS tried to imply WFB reporter had fabricated a quote before admitting he hadn't https://t.co/477jp5bVyt pic.twitter.com/0aB0YkatvL
— Park MacDougald (@hpmacd) February 10, 2022
Anyway, we suppose we should just be grateful that our money won’t be used to give crack pipes to drug addicts. GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, for one, is relieved.
What he’s not, however, is satisfied:
Good news. Biden's HHS is no longer funding crack pipes.
But make no mistake: yesterday's change in policy is because HHS got caught. pic.twitter.com/s7nW1mN3GS
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) February 10, 2022
Is there any doubt that HHS wouldn’t have said a word had it not been for Patrick Hauf and the Washington Free Beacon? We’re not going to pack HHS or the Biden administration on the back just yet. Or possibly ever:
Unfortunately, HHS is still proudly using your tax dollars to fund heroin syringes for drug addicts. pic.twitter.com/tGuATmZWWl
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) February 10, 2022
That’s strange … when Jen Psaki was listing the stuff in the safe smoking kits, she never mentioned syringes. Lip balm, yes. Syringes, no:
.@JacquiHeinrich: "What is in the Safe Smoking kit?
Psaki: It "may contain alcohol swabs, lip balm, other materials to promote hygiene and reduce the transmission of diseases like HIV and hepatitis….What we're really talking about…is steps…to address the opioid epidemic" pic.twitter.com/f4hRCtfJTX
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 9, 2022
We can certainly appreciate the value in drug addicts having clean syringes as opposed to dirty, contaminated ones. But how would giving drug addicts cleaner supplies — for free, mind you — do anything “to stop the spread of drugs and curb addiction”? It doesn’t make much logical sense at all.
Then again, nothing the Biden administration has done has made much logical sense at all.
***
Related:
Join the conversation as a VIP Member