Free Republic

President Biden's Health and Human Services department is finalizing funding to dole out crack pipes to drug addicts as part of its Harm Reduction Plan. The $30 million grant program will begin doling out money in May to provide funds to nonprofits and local governments to make drug use safer and to advance racial equity. Included in the grant is money to purchase safe smoking kits/supplies. A spokesperson for HHS told the Washington Free Beacon that included in these kits could be pipes for users to smoke substances like crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, or any illicit substance. Handing out...

Currently, mouth pieces are available for free, but not the pipes themselves. Officials hope it will reduce exposure to diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis. ... free heroin needles are also already available around Vancouver at safe injection sites. Free crack pipes are also available to addicts in Seattle

Fire marshals are investigating whether crack pipes discarded in a Bronx row house played a part in sparking a fire on Sunday that critically injured Dean Meminger, a former player for the New York Knicks. Investigators discovered several crack pipes inside 1308 Findlay Avenue, where the four-alarm fire began at 9:20 p.m. on Sunday, city officials said. Mr. Meminger, 62, lived on the second floor of the building and was unconscious when he was discovered in his room and pulled from the flames.

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama said you won't catch him lighting up a cigarette in the smoke-free White House. Asked in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" whether he has kicked the habit, the president-elect admits there are times when he's "fallen off the wagon." But he adds under the circumstances, he thinks he's "done a terrific job" of making himself "much healthier."