Biden’s free crack pipes

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Republicans just can’t let an opportunity to be racist pass them by,

I saw an article earlier that said in the title that Jen Psaki had to clarify to the press that Biden isn’t giving out free crack pipes. I didn’t even read the article because it sounded absurd. I believe it happened. I just didn’t think I needed to investigate. I thought that would be the end of it, but I was wrong. Later our Fox News consuming employee announced that Biden is giving out free crack pipes and then whenever talking about some idiot he would chime in with “He must have gotten one of Biden’s crack pipes”.

So now I felt compelled to do some research. This is referring to a Safe Smoke Kit (another epic naming/branding fail by the left) to help drug addicts. Crack pipes aren’t part of the kit but that didn’t stop a Republican rep from tweeting out that it is, off to Fox and into the collective consciousness.

You know what could be part of the kit? Syringes. But no outrage from the right on that one because it's associated with opioids which is a white people problem and should be treated with compassion and treatment as opposed to the criminal life decision of minorities smoking crack.

 

[Herdfan]

They should be giving out neither.

However, wasn't Biden front an center of the law that created sentencing disparity between white person cocaine and black person crack? He was. In fact, he sponsored it.

Here is a gem from him in 1993:

“I don’t care why they’ve become a sociopath,” the then-senator again told lawmakers in ’93. “We have an obligation to cordon them off from the rest of society.”

Then, his voice began to rise, both in volume and in pitch. “They are in jail, away from my mother, your husband, our families. So, I want to ask, what made them do this? They must be taken off the street.”

So hammering Republicans on this is a bit much given that the current D President bears some culpability.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

They should be giving out neither.

However, wasn't Biden front an center of the law that created sentencing disparity between white person cocaine and black person crack? He was. In fact, he sponsored it.

Here is a gem from him in 1993:


So hammering Republicans on this is a bit much given that the current D President bears some culpability.

I agree Biden has a “problematic” history with the black community. I posted in another thread a while back about a black activist going off on the left for saying “The racist is finally out of the white house!” in reference to Trump’s exit but Biden was coming in.

However, that doesn’t give a pass to this current event.

 

[ronntaylor]

Republicans just can’t let an opportunity to be racist pass them by,

Because it works with white voters of both parties. We witnessed it here with the nonsense stories about "illegal aliens" becoming rich due to Mango's child separation scheme being addressed.

 

[ronntaylor]

They should be giving out neither.

The Biden administration isn't giving out shit. The program may reimburse state/city/local governments for their efforts and programs that they will decide on locally.

Here is a gem from him in 1993:

Nearly thirty years ago when we can witness GQP+ foolishness right-the-fuck-now. Typical.

 

[Herdfan]

Nearly thirty years ago when we can witness GQP+ foolishness right-the-fuck-now. Typical.

You assume he has changed. I do not.

 

[SuperMatt]

Because it works with white voters of both parties. We witnessed it here with the nonsense stories about "illegal aliens" becoming rich due to Mango's child separation scheme being addressed.

The idea that illegal immigrants would get reimbursement for when they had their kids stolen away and locked up by the American government (violating international law) really made some Americans angry.

 

[AG_PhamD]

As someone who works with substance abusing patients on a daily basis, I can say regardless of what the kits involve (and it’s my understanding these kits do not include pipes, though some have in the past), if there’s a will, there’s a way. They will use anything to achieve their desired route of administration, let alone acquire the drug in the first place. Therefore you might as well give them the safest materials possible. And by providing outreach to distribute these supplies, outreach to provide recovery programs are also being offered… and typically the latter is not the easiest thing to do.

All the evidence suggests that supplying things like clean needles or smoking kits do not encourage drug use or promote new people to try drugs. The people utilizing these tools are already using drugs to begin with.

 

[Herdfan]

All the evidence suggests that supplying things like clean needles or smoking kits do not encourage drug use or promote new people to try drugs. The people utilizing these tools are already using drugs to begin with.

I will agree with all of that. Except more needles in the system, the more needles left laying around for kids to get into. So fixing one problem can create others.

 

[Joe]

The idea that illegal immigrants would get reimbursement for when they had their kids stolen away and locked up by the American government (violating international law) really made some Americans angry.

You'd be surprised at how many people on both sides don't like that.

 

[DT]

My crack pipes are totally worn out, how exactly do I get these freebies?

 

[DT]

Side note: where do we need to start a "drug thread", like weed legalization, etc. ... ?

Social & Lifestyle ?

 

[ronntaylor]

My crack pipes are totally worn out, how exactly do I get these freebies?

Close your eyes and click your heels as you yell out "Republicans are lying liars!" three times.

 

[Yoused]

My crack pipes are totally worn out, how exactly do I get these freebies?

[suggestive vulgar wordplay deleted]

 

[SuperMatt]

You'd be surprised at how many people on both sides don't like that.

Not surprised, since we already saw that play out on this board a while ago... which is what @ronntaylor was alluding to I believe.

 

[AG_PhamD]

I will agree with all of that. Except more needles in the system, the more needles left laying around for kids to get into. So fixing one problem can create others.

Well, if you think about it there’s tons of insulin needles floating around. If insulin syringes are not available for free through harm reduction programs or available for negligible cost via pharmacies, it’s still not particuarly difficult for people to get their hands on them- new or used. They end up getting dealt the same way any drug does. Syringes sales are normally restricted but basically to the degree of medical equipment, nothing to the degree of say controlled medications.

Typically people’s first route of administration is not injection. For example, they might start off by insufflating fentanyl, then smoking it, then switching to IV when the previous methods no longer work as desired due to tolerance.

I think the one negative of having syringes available is that they become less valuable to the user and end up being improperly disposed on sidewalks and in parking lots. I know a lot of pharmacists who refuse to sell them to people without Rx’s just for this reason.

 

[User.45]

I will agree with all of that. Except more needles in the system, the more needles left laying around for kids to get into. So fixing one problem can create others.

Read a little:

Needle Exchange Programs’ Status in US Politics

journalofethics.ama-assn.org

 

[User.168]

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[User.168]

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[AG_PhamD]

Republicans just can’t let an opportunity to be racist pass them by,

I saw an article earlier that said in the title that Jen Psaki had to clarify to the press that Biden isn’t giving out free crack pipes. I didn’t even read the article because it sounded absurd. I believe it happened. I just didn’t think I needed to investigate. I thought that would be the end of it, but I was wrong. Later our Fox News consuming employee announced that Biden is giving out free crack pipes and then whenever talking about some idiot he would chime in with “He must have gotten one of Biden’s crack pipes”.

So now I felt compelled to do some research. This is referring to a Safe Smoke Kit (another epic naming/branding fail by the left) to help drug addicts. Crack pipes aren’t part of the kit but that didn’t stop a Republican rep from tweeting out that it is, off to Fox and into the collective consciousness.

You know what could be part of the kit? Syringes. But no outrage from the right on that one because it's associated with opioids which is a white people problem and should be treated with compassion and treatment as opposed to the criminal life decision of minorities smoking crack.

So the actual truth of the matter was the government set aside $30m to be given to 25 organizations or local governments (up to $400,000 per year for 3 years, per group) on harm reduction programs. Organizations / governments apply to this program and there is a list of approved harm reduction tools. Technically crack pipes is an approved way to spend money, or was until the public outrage.

Given the deadline for applications was a few days ago, no one really knows what are in these applications and certainly no one knows who has been selected for these funds. So saying $30m is being spent of crack pipes is false… or at least very unlikely, but it’s also not known if any money would be spent on crack pipes. There is no requirement of what these kits must include. To say no money could have been spent wouldn’t be technically correct either, that is until the government modified their funding.

So I would say the right wing media blew this out of proportion. The fact checkers saying that the government funding crack pipes is false isn’t (or wasn’t) probably isn’t quite true either.

————
Also, this harm reduction spending is $30m out of $4B being spend on addiction treatment, aka 0.75%. As someone who works in this industry I am hoping this money gets put to good use. As it stands now unless you or your family has a lot of money, access to quality, timely care is not easy. Anyone can get sober anywhere without high end rehabs, but having a good program and involved providers does make a difference.

The intention risk of sharing crack pipes of course is communicable disease, especially if broken glassware cuts users- hepatitis and HIV of course are of the greatest concern. Cuts alone can be problematic with basic infections, especially considering the drug addicted population often is less hygienic and less likely able to access (or willing to access) healthcare. Not to mention how drugs like crack can impede healing, particuarly in the extremities. Improvised pipes have their own risks, like inhaling toxic fumes or non-heat resistant glass shattering in one’s mouth. So the idea of giving out pipes is not unfounded.

The average HIV treatment cost is $10-20k per year, not counting potential hospitalizations which could vastly inflate the costs. And remember HIV treatment is required for the rest of the individuals life, which is not much different than the average non-HIV person these days. The average Hep C treatment cost these days is somewhere around $80-90k+. Obviously the toll these diseases can take on a person are terrible, but from a financial public health perspective they cost a massive amount of money. Minimizing their transmission is vitally important both on a personal level and on a resource level.

That said like Cocaine/Crack and meth are literally one of the worst substances you can put in your body. Of all the major drugs these are really the most detrimental to health. I don’t recommend it.