{"id":1288113,"date":"2022-02-10T05:45:37","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T10:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1288113"},"modified":"2022-02-10T10:52:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T15:52:50","slug":"jen-psaki-says-crack-pipe-plans-are-false-smoking-kits-contain-alcohol-swabs-lip-balm-other-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jen-psaki-says-crack-pipe-plans-are-false-smoking-kits-contain-alcohol-swabs-lip-balm-other-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"Jen Psaki Says Crack Pipe Plans Are False, Smoking Kits Contain \u2018Alcohol Swabs, Lip Balm, Other Materials\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjen-psaki-says-crack-pipe-plans-are-false-smoking-kits-contain-alcohol-swabs-lip-balm-other-materials%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1288113&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1369605952-e1644434621859-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>On Monday, critics blasted the Biden administration after it was reported that the Department of Health and Human Services was planning to implement a $30 million grant program which would include handing out crack pipes to drug addicts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cApplicants for the grants are prioritized if they treat a majority of \u2018underserved communities,\u2019 including African Americans and \u2018LGBTQ+ persons,\u2019 as established under President Joe Biden\u2019s executive order on \u2018advancing racial equity,\u2019\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/biden-admin-to-fund-crack-pipe-distribution-to-advance-racial-equity\/\"><span>The Washington Free Beacon<\/span><\/a><span> wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki spoke to reporters on Wednesday, and argued that the reports were false.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cHHS just put out a statement clarifying around some of the reports that crack pipes are not going to be part of the safe smoking kits funded by the administration,\u201d Fox News\u2019 Jacqui Heinrich <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1491484579965853698\"><span>asked<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cBut can you clarify for us, were they never a part of the kit, or were they removed in response to this reporting and this pushback?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThey were never a part of the kit. It was inaccurate reporting and we wanted to put out information to make that clear,\u201d Psaki responded.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Psaki on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PatrickHauf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PatrickHauf<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FreeBeacon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FreeBeacon<\/a> story about crack pipes: &#8220;They were never a part of the kit. It was inaccurate reporting and we wanted to put out information to make that clear.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4oUBM9MQQ7\">pic.twitter.com\/4oUBM9MQQ7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1491485916808065031?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Heinrich then <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1491486383650881540\"><span>asked<\/span><\/a><span> Psaki, \u201cWhat is in the Safe Smoking kit?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c[Safe Smoking Kits] may contain alcohol swabs, lip balm, other materials to promote hygiene and reduce the transmission of diseases like HIV and hepatitis. I would note that what we\u2019re really talking about here is steps we\u2019re taking as a federal government to address the opioid epidemic, which is killing tens of thousands, if not more, Americans every single day, week, month of the year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere was inaccurate information out there,\u201d Psaki continued on the subject of the Washington Free Beacon story. \u201cThis policy is focused on harm reduction strategies, including prioritizing the use of fentanyl test strips and clean syringes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThese programs are intended to save lives,\u201d Psaki added.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">More Psaki condemning the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FreeBeacon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FreeBeacon<\/a> story from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PatrickHauf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PatrickHauf<\/a>: &#8220;There was inaccurate information out there\u2026This policy is focused on harm reduction strategies, including prioritizing the use of fentanyl test strips and clean syringes\u2026These programs are intended to save lives&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qToIEYOrOP\">pic.twitter.com\/qToIEYOrOP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1491487124339757064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201c[D]oes the administration support any effort then to distribute drug paraphernalia like the crack pipes were were hearing about?\u201d Heinrich <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1491487964089757706\">asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[T]he statement makes clear we don\u2019t support federal funding, direct or indirect for pipes,\u201d Psaki responded.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhat would you say to critics who are concerned that the Biden administration is somehow encouraging illegal drug use?\u201d Heinrich asked in conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Psaki responded by saying that \u201cwe\u2019re losing an American life every five minutes to overdose,\u201d and that we don\u2019t have \u201ctime for political games.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JacquiHeinrich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JacquiHeinrich<\/a>: &#8220;What would you say to critics\u2026concerned\u2026the Biden administration is somehow encouraging illegal drug use?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Psaki says &#8220;we&#8217;re losing&#8221; a &#8220;life every 5 mins to overdose,&#8221; so there&#8217;s no &#8220;time for political games&#8221; and rejecting &#8220;harm reduction programs&#8221; (7\/7) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/G4OUp6u475\">pic.twitter.com\/G4OUp6u475<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1491489816915202048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cThe $30 million <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.samhsa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/grants\/pdf\/fy22-harm-reduction-nofo.pdf\"><span>grant program<\/span><\/a><span>, which closed applications Monday and will begin in May, will provide funds to nonprofits and local governments to help make drug use safer for addicts,\u201d reported The Washington Free Beacon on Monday. \u201cIncluded in the grant, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, are funds for \u2018smoking kits\/supplies.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Free Beacon added that a spokesman for the agency confirmed that \u201cthese kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and \u2018any illicit substance.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>However, following multiple reports on the grant and amid widespread backlash, including from members of Congress, Health and Human Services (HHS) addressed the controversy on Wednesday. HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) director Rahul Gupta said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/about\/news\/2022\/02\/09\/statement-hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-and-ondcp-director-rahul-gupta.html\">press release<\/a> that \u201cno federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHHS 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 kits,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n<p><i>Ian Haworth can be&nbsp;followed on Twitter at<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><i><span> @ighaworth<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span> member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday, critics blasted the Biden administration after it was reported that the Department of Health and Human Services was planning to implement a $30 million grant program which would &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1288113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1288113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1288113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1288113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1288113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}