Regarding crack pipes

Posted on: February 10, 2022 at 09:00:12 CT

It's easy to go to the source to find out what is happening.

This is where grants for 2022 from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are listed:

https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements-2022

The grant in question is the Harm Reduction Grant Program:

https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/sp-22-001

If you click on the "NOFO Document" pdf (or word doc) you can see the details of the grant:

https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/grants/pdf/fy22-harm-reduction-nofo.pdf

The section on how the funds must be used is:

Grant funds must be used primarily to support the following required harm reduction
activities:
• Assess organizational readiness and create a strategic action plan based upon
identified strengths, gaps (including those related to social determinants of
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health), and opportunities for capacity development required to implement an
evidence-based harm reduction program at the service delivery and
organizational levels. This strategic action plan should be developed by the
midpoint of Year 1 and will be supported by the Harm Reduction TA Center
(https://www.cdc.gov/harmreductionta/index.html).
• Develop a sustainability plan to ensure that harm reduction program elements
are continued after the grant period ends. This could include collaboration with
community partners to share resources or a cost sharing element.
• Develop policies and procedures to implement evidence-based trauma-informed
practices throughout each level of the organizational structure.
• Distribute FDA-approved overdose reversal medication and deliver overdose
prevention education to target populations regarding the consumption of
substances including but not limited to opioids and their synthetic analogs.
• Establish processes, protocols, mechanisms for referral to treatment and
recovery support services, referral to treatment for infectious diseases such as
HIV, STIs, and viral hepatitis.
• Assemble a harm reduction advisory council that meets regularly to guide
program activities and project implementation. Group members should include
people who use drugs (PWUD), individuals in recovery, harm reduction service
providers and other key community members such as public safety officers,
mental health providers and treatment providers.
• Designate staff (e.g., Program Coordinator and/or Program Evaluator) to provide
program design, implementation, and evaluation to meet grant program and
reporting requirements.
• Purchase equipment and supplies to enhance harm reduction efforts, such as:
o Harm reduction vending machine(s), including stock for machines;
o Infectious diseases testing kits (HIV, HBV, HCV, etc.);
o Medication lock boxes;
o FDA-approved overdose reversal medication (as well as higher dosages
now approved by FDA);
o Safe sex kits, including PrEP resources and condoms;
o Safe smoking kits/supplies;
o Screening for infectious diseases (HIV, sexually transmitted infections,
viral hepatitis);
o Sharps disposal and medication disposal kits;
o Substance test kits, including test strips for fentanyl and other synthetic
drugs;
o Syringes to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases;
o Vaccination services (hepatitis A, hepatitis B vaccination); and
o Wound care management supplies.
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.
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The Harm Reduction grant program is authorized under Section 2706 of the American
Rescue Plan Act of 2021 which is not subject to the same syringe funding restrictions as
other federal grants.

Yes, funds can be used for smoking kits. They can also be used for syringes, which is a reversal of policy Trump implemented that put more restrictions on providing syringes. For example in the 2019 Drug-Free Communities Support Program Grant, (https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/sp-19-005) the limitation on syringes is:

Consolidated Appropriations Action, 2017 (Public Law 115-31) Division H, Section 520,
notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no funds appropriated in this Act shall be used
to purchase sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug. Provided,
That such limitation does not apply to the use of funds for elements of a program other than
making such purchases if the relevant State or local health department, in consultation with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, determines that the State or local jurisdiction, as
applicable, is experiencing, or is at risk for, a significant increase in hepatitis infections or an
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HIV outbreak due to injection drug use, and such program is operating in accordance with state
and local law.

So, instead of discussing the merits of whether or not smoking kits and/or syringe exchanges actually prevent spread of infectious disease or aid in reducing substance abuse, the media reports DERP DERP CRACK PIPES because it gets clicks.