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Drugs are killing more people than ever in the U.S., and the Biden Administration wants that to stop.
From 2020 to 2021, 100,000 U.S. citizens died from drug overdoses, setting a new record. To keep that from increasing more, the Department of Health and Human Services offers a $30 million grant to non-profits focused on reducing the harm caused by drugs. The grant will fund harm reduction measures like clean syringes, HIV testing kits, and safe smoking kits.
Conservative pundits, media, and politicians are zeroing in on those smoking kits, including alcohol wipes, filters, and rubber mouthpieces. The government initially agreed to fund kits that included pipes, but headlines accusing Biden of giving away crack pipes made them reverse that decision.
Penalties do nothing to stop drug overdoses; addiction is a disease that does not care about what’s legal. But there are things the government can do to prevent drugs from snuffing out one U.S. life every five minutes as it currently does.
A clean pipe or needle isn’t an invitation to use drugs, but it could save lives.
