White House press secretary Jen Psaki blasted Republicans for characterising a Health and Human Services grant program for harm reduction strategies as a federal giveaway of crack pipes to drug addicts based on “inaccurate reporting”.
Right-wing media outlets had mischaracterised the grant program as a crack pipe giveaway because of the inclusion of “safe smoking kits” in a notice of funding opportunity issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
And Republican senator Marsha Blackburn added more fuel to the media firestorm on Tuesday by sending a letter to HHS secretary Xavier Becerra asking about the use of “harm reduction grants” and expressing her “grave concerns” regarding the program.
The resulting outrage pushed HHS to issue a statement denying that any crack pipes would be distributed using federal funds.
Asked about the HHS “clarification,” Ms Psaki said it was issued because “there was inaccurate information out there”.
“We wanted to provide clarification on the allowable uses for the HHS Harm Reduction Program — it's not a change in policy,” she said. “This programme … is focused on harm reduction strategies, including prioritising the use of fentanyl test strips and clean syringes. And all of these harm reduction services that will be supported by these programs are intended to save lives from an epidemic that we know is devastating to communities across the country”.
Ms Psaki added that the White House was “committed” to “taking steps to address the opioid crisis”.
“We're losing an American life every five minutes to overdose. We don't have time for political games,” she said. “The President is focused on saving lives through harm reduction programs. That's exactly what we're talking about here”.
