Video misrepresents funding of drug smoking kits in LA
CLAIM: The Biden administration is funding drug smoking kits that are being distributed by a Los Angeles-based organization.
THE FACTS: No federal funding was used to provide the safer smoking kits that are being distributed by Being Alive, an HIV and AIDS-focused nonprofit in Los Angeles. The organization’s funding comes from the state of California, according to Being Alive staff and state officials.
A video of a man holding what appears to be a smoking kit that he claims was funded by the Biden administration is being shared online as proof that federal officials are funding crack pipes. In the video, the man examines the contents of two plastic bags, which he says contain pipes used for smoking drugs. “Being Alive!” is on a card in one of the bags. “Joe Biden said he spent $60 million on paraphernalia for drugs and this is what it looks like,” the man says in the video. A Twitter user who shared the video on Wednesday wrote: “Biden’s America handing out Crack Pipes and Drugs to destroy #America #redpill #truth #anon.”
But Jamie Baker, executive director of Being Alive, told The Associated Press the claims are “absolutely not true.” “Our funding comes from the state of California,” he said. “No federal dollars are used for this program at all.” Baker said that for about a year, Being Alive has been distributing smoking kits. He noted that primary funding for their smoking supplies distribution comes from the California Harm Reduction Initiative. The purpose of the kits — which can contain sterile items such as lip balm and pipes — is to reduce risk of burns, cuts, infections and the transmission of diseases among drug users, as well as overdoses, according to Caleb Banta-Green, a principal research scientist at the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute. Corey Egel, a spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health, confirmed in a statement to the AP that Being Alive was awarded a $160,000, three-year grant from the California Harm Reduction Initiative, and that the organization was also recently awarded more than $16,000 for supplies such as safer smoking materials and syringes. The assertions made in the recent video stem from claims that the Biden administration planned to pay for smoking kits through a harm reduction grant program. The original request for funding proposals had listed “safe smoking kits/supplies” among the items that could be purchased with taxpayer money, the AP reported in February. But the Biden administration has denied that federal funding would be used to finance pipes. In a statement emailed to the AP, Sarah Lovenheim, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the Biden administration had not provided any funding for Being Alive’s smoking kit distribution.
— Josh Kelety
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