Earlier this week, a lie rocketed around conservative media that the Biden administration planned to hand out “crack pipes” as part of a $30 million public health grant package. The truth was just getting its pants on.
The myth appears to have started with a miscommunication and a large leap of thinking from the right-leaning Washington Free Beacon.
The Daily Beast confirmed that the claim—that a Health and Human Services spokesperson confirmed that smoking kits funded by the program “will provide pipes”—is false. The agency said the spokesperson never made or confirmed that claim, and it provided documentation to corroborate that version of events.
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The report, published Monday and titled “Biden Admin To Fund Crack Pipe Distribution To Advance ‘Racial Equity,’” cited an HHS spokesperson as confirming that a sweeping harm reduction package “will provide pipes” to smoke, quote, “any illicit substance.”
“Included in the grant, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, are funds for ‘smoking kits/supplies,’” the article said. “A spokesman for the agency told the Washington Free Beacon that these kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and ‘any illicit substance.’”
But an HHS spokesperson told The Daily Beast that the agency never said the kits would provide pipes. The spokesperson provided the email chain with the reporter, which matches the agency’s account.
According to the emails, the reporter never mentioned pipes. The HHS representative confirmed that the reporter “never asked about pipes” in any communication.
In the exchange, the agency provides the Free Beacon with a statement, which does not mention pipes and clarifies that all kits must comply with the law. In response, the reporter asks, “Just to confirm, these kits [are] intended to help users reduce risk when smoking crack and meth?”
The spokesperson replies, “I wouldn’t limit it to those two substances. It would reference ‘any illicit substance.’”
That response, which the report quotes, addresses the inquiry about risk reduction generally—not about pipes.
An HHS spokesperson explained to The Daily Beast that “as you can see the staff never said or confirm[ed] that pipes were part of the kits.”
The spokesperson added that the reporter also “omitted the information shared with him about the grantees needing to comply with federal, state, and local laws—the very language that would prohibit crack pipes.”
The statement reads in full:
"Unsafe smoking practices can lead to open sores, burns and cuts on the lips, and can increase the risk of infection among people who smoke drugs. Safe smoking kits have been identified to reduce the spread of disease. The proposal of using grant funds to purchase supplies for safe smoking kits must be justified by Harm Reduction Program applicants as to how they contribute to preventing and controlling the spread of infectious disease in the Harm Reduction Grant application. Harm reduction programs that use federal funding must adhere to federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and other requirements related to such programs or services. The [HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration] does not specify the kits’ elements—only the parameters."
The Beacon report even cites that last line, noting that, “An HHS spokesman declined to specify what is included in the smoking kits.” That would seem to contradict the earlier claim in the same article that the agency also did specify included contents—“these kits will provide pipes.”
As of the publication of this article, the report has not been corrected.
The story ran on Monday, the last day that nonprofits and municipalities could apply for a slice of the $30 million federally funded “Harm Reduction” package. The public health program, one element of a larger racial equity effort, would put some but not all of the money towards efforts to help protect people addicted to drugs from disease, infection, and injury.
Conservatives criticize such programs as fueling substance abuse. But activists and many public health experts say these sorts of programs provide a significant degree of safety and support to vulnerable people.
While HHS declined to specify any elements of smoking kits that may qualify, non-governmental organization Harm Reduction International lists some typical items, including brass screen filters, rubber mouthpieces to limit burning, lip balm, and disinfectant wipes.
But the kits only receive passing mention as a bullet point in a 75-page plan. The document lists “safe smoking kits/supplies” among an array of possible items that applicants may propose to purchase with allocated funds. Other categories include, but aren’t limited to, screening for infectious diseases such as HIV, syringe and medication disposal, safe sex kits, wound care, and vaccine services for hepatitis. The grant program lists numerous other use cases in far more detail, including community outreach, staffing, sustainability, structural support, and the targeted distribution of overdose reversal drugs to populations affected by opioid addiction.
Predictably, the report caught fire in conservative media, particularly on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson show. The false claim also was amplified by a number of conservative figures and officials, including congressional candidates and officials, GOP members of a House committee, and Senators, including Ted Cruz (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
On Wednesday, both HHS and the White House shot down the claim that the administration would be handing out crack pipes—let alone $30 million worth. Fact checking organizations and news outlets also laid it to rest.
In a joint statement provided to The Daily Beast, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and White House drug policy adviser Rahul Gupta said no federal funding would be “used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki blamed “inaccurate reporting” for the misperception.
Asked about the story in a Twitter direct message exchange, the Free Beacon reporter denied any inaccuracies or contradictions.
“There is no contradiction,” he wrote. “We detail clearly what smoking kits are based on numerous distribution plans around the country. Grant recipients are able to purchase these smoking kits as stated in the notice of funding. There is no notice of any sort of ban on pipes. And the HHS never mentioned this supposed ban on pipes to me in its statements before the story and for two days after. Thank you.”
However, the reporter did not bring up pipes in the exchanges with HHS. And the original article does not cite distribution plans as its source for what the federally funded kits would include; it cites a department spokesperson directly, and the spokesperson does not confirm that pipes will be funded.
The reporter added that the follow-up story published Wednesday “provides context and information regarding the HHS and White House responses.”
Asked about the HHS claim that he never mentioned pipes, the reporter did not reply.
After the White House pushed back on the story, the Beacon ran a follow-up doubling down on the original claim. But it also says once again that HHS “does not explicitly state what is included in any funded kit.”
“In fact, an HHS spokesman told the Free Beacon that it ‘does not specify the kits’ elements’ but ‘only the parameters,’” the report said.
The reporter on Wednesday said that the Free Beacon stands by the report.
