{"id":1585885,"date":"2022-08-03T05:04:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T09:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1585885"},"modified":"2022-08-03T05:04:21","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T09:04:21","slug":"these-harm-reduction-facilities-are-slated-for-biden-administration-grants-theyre-also-distributing-crack-pipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/these-harm-reduction-facilities-are-slated-for-biden-administration-grants-theyre-also-distributing-crack-pipes\/","title":{"rendered":"These Harm-Reduction Facilities Are Slated for Biden Administration Grants. They\u2019re Also Distributing Crack Pipes."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/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%2Fthese-harm-reduction-facilities-are-slated-for-biden-administration-grants-theyre-also-distributing-crack-pipes%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=1585885&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><\/div>\n<p>Two Maine organizations slated to receive funding from a controversial Biden administration grant program for groups that support a &#8220;harm reduction&#8221; approach to drug treatment are actively distributing crack pipes to addicts, the\u00a0<em>Free Beacon\u00a0<\/em>learned at visits to these sites.<\/p>\n<p>The Church of Safe Injection, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.churchofsafeinjection.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bills<\/a> itself as a &#8220;nonprofit that fights for the health, rights, and dignity of people who use drugs (PWUD),&#8221; will receive funding through a $1.2 million grant the Biden administration awarded to a coalition of Maine groups. A <em>Free Beacon<\/em> reporter last week picked up a crack pipe and meth pipe at its Lewiston, Maine, office. The organization did not provide a smoking kit, which often includes a mouthpiece, copper wool, and alcohol wipes along with the pipe.<\/p>\n<p>Maine Access Points, another organization set to receive funding through the grant, provided a <em>Free Beacon<\/em> reporter a bag of a dozen crack pipes in Sanford, Maine, along with foil and a smoking kit that contained a mouthpiece, copper scrubber, lip balm, and instructions on how to smoke crack cocaine. The organization also handed out three meth pipes, a snorting kit, naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and a condom. Maine Access Points has a phone number for each of its five harm reduction facilities in the state. When a <em>Free Beacon<\/em> reporter texted to ask if the Sanford location distributed crack pipes, an employee responded, &#8220;Yes\ud83d\udcaf\ud83d\ude0a\ud83e\udd70.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The explanation emerging from the organizations\u2014which cop to distributing crack pipes and receiving taxpayer funding, but insist they are not using taxpayer funds to purchase the crack pipes\u2014paints a far messier picture than the Biden administration&#8217;s haughty dismissal of initial reports on the grant program as &#8220;misinformation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">When the <em>Free Beacon<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/biden-admin-to-fund-crack-pipe-distribution-to-advance-racial-equity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/biden-admin-to-fund-crack-pipe-distribution-to-advance-racial-equity\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1659556838397000&#038;usg=AOvVaw0jo9UHuxoU8cJGtxlZes1e\">reported in February<\/a> that the Biden administration was set to fund the distribution of crack pipes through a harm-reduction program intended to advance &#8220;racial equity,&#8221; Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra\u2014facing blowback\u2014said that &#8220;no federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits.&#8221; Likewise, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that crack pipes were &#8220;never a part of the kit&#8221; and that &#8220;we don&#8217;t support federal funding, indirect or direct, for pipes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The two Maine groups that provided the <em>Free Beacon<\/em> crack pipes did so separately from their smoking kits. This distinguished the groups from the five harm reduction locations along the East Coast that <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/yes-safe-smoking-kits-include-free-crack-pipes-we-know-because-we-got-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/yes-safe-smoking-kits-include-free-crack-pipes-we-know-because-we-got-them\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1659556838397000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3NY1BXLy6rGLdLRE1wSHIJ\">provided<\/a> the <em>Free Beacon<\/em> with crack pipes within their smoking kits.<\/p>\n<p>A spokeswoman for the Church of Safe Injection, Zoe Brokos, told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em> that the organization has yet to receive the federal funds it was awarded, and plans to use them to purchase &#8220;wound care kit supplies such as alcohol pads, gauze pads, and bandages.&#8221; Brokos added that her organization will continue to distribute crack pipes and meth pipes but will not use federal grants to fund them.<\/p>\n<p>Maine Access Points did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Church of Safe Injection and Maine Access Points\u2014in collaboration with MaineHealth, the state&#8217;s largest health system, and Amistad, a peer support group for drug addicts\u2014are using the taxpayer-funded grants to facilitate the distribution of drug paraphernalia in each of Maine&#8217;s 16 counties, with a focus on LGBT and homeless drug users, according to HHS grant information. The grant is set to be renewed annually through 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Although Church of Safe Injection and Maine Access Points help oversee the HHS grant award funds, the department omitted the two harm reduction groups from the grant recipient announcement, listing only MaineHealth. A local CBS affiliate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wabi.tv\/2022\/06\/30\/mainehealth-receive-over-1-million-federal-funding-target-overdose-prevention\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.wabi.tv\/2022\/06\/30\/mainehealth-receive-over-1-million-federal-funding-target-overdose-prevention\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1659556838397000&#038;usg=AOvVaw0gne5EM6qWkwJ9Rt8FCuwk\">reported<\/a> in June that both harm reduction groups are grant recipients, and the groups celebrated the award funding in separate Facebook posts. The government&#8217;s omission raises questions as to why the groups were left off the Biden administration&#8217;s list of grant recipients. Neither HHS nor the White House responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So bittersweet to share the news that we received this grant in collaboration with Maine Access Points, Amistad, and MaineHealth,&#8221; the Church of Safe Injection posted on Facebook in May with a link to the HHS grant announcement. &#8220;Bittersweet because so few harm reductionists were chosen throughout the country even though we know that the services provided by syringe service programs and naloxone distribution orgs save lives and make a HUGE difference.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>MaineHealth did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The Church of Safe Injection launched in 2018 and operated without legal approval from the state before it was certified through Maine&#8217;s syringe exchange program in February. The group hosts a &#8220;trans harm reduction group&#8221; twice a month for &#8220;trans and non-gender conforming people who use drugs.&#8221; Its founder, Jesse Harvey, died of an overdose in 2020. Kari Morissette, who took over as executive director of the group after the death of Harvey, died in May.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the Biden administration&#8217;s assurances that taxpayer funds would not underwrite the distribution of crack pipes, Congress passed bipartisan bills in <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/the-biden-admin-says-it-never-funded-crack-pipes-house-democrats-are-set-to-ban-funding-anyway\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/the-biden-admin-says-it-never-funded-crack-pipes-house-democrats-are-set-to-ban-funding-anyway\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1659556838397000&#038;usg=AOvVaw0T9Y7nU6qq7FJzRWbqtQSU\">June<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/the-biden-administration-insisted-it-wouldnt-fund-crack-pipes-a-new-report-shows-otherwise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/the-biden-administration-insisted-it-wouldnt-fund-crack-pipes-a-new-report-shows-otherwise\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1659556838397000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3K8mMIpm2dC0GP9NYfXfmA\">July<\/a> that bar the administration from funding it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two Maine organizations slated to receive funding from a controversial Biden administration grant program for groups that support a &#8220;harm reduction&#8221; approach to drug treatment are actively distributing crack pipes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"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-1585885","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\/1585885","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\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1585885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585885\/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=1585885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1585885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1585885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}