Harm-reduction policies for drug addicts gain traction under Biden administration

The Justice Department is reportedly “evaluating” safe injection sites, a haven where people can use heroin and other illegal drugs in an effort to avoid fatal overdoses, though it is still considering the “appropriate guardrails” around the sites.

The position is a major reversal from the Trump administration’s position and efforts to combat a safe-consumption site in Philadelphia, raising hackles among some critics who say it will encourage illicit drug use and addiction.

“Is this a cruel joke? Drug overdose deaths are at their highest recorded levels. The Biden administration should focus on stopping traffickers instead of creating more demand for their product,” Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, tweeted late Monday with an Associated Press story confirming the Justice Department’s consideration of safe-injection sites.

New York City forged ahead with safe consumption sites in November amid lingering court battles over the sites, which already operate in Canada, Australia and Europe.

The first officially authorized safe injection sites opened in New York City in November. The two facilities — which the city calls “overdose prevention centers” — provide a monitored place for drug users to partake, with staffers and supplies on hand to reverse overdoses.

Such sites are part of a concept known as harm reduction in which officials try to manage the risks from certain behaviors instead of relying on outright prohibitions that haven’t worked well.

Supporters of safe-consumption sites say intervening in overdoses at the havens could prevent overdoses. More than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses from May 2020 to April 2021, according to federal data.

“Although we cannot comment on pending litigation, the Department is evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety,” the Justice Department said Friday in a statement to the Associated Press.

Yet the politics and optics around harm-reduction strategies are thorny.

The Washington Free Beacon reports a $30 million grant program sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services will, starting in May, provide smoking kits provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and “any illicit substance.”

The aim is to reduce the risk of infection when smoking substances with glass pipes, which can lead to infections through cuts and sores, the Beacon reports, though places like Louisville, Kentucky cracked down the sale of crack paraphernalia amid concerns it encouraged addiction.

Communities that serve minorities or the LGBTQ community will be prioritized under the grant program, the Beacon reports, which could raise concerns that communities hit hard by the 1980s crack epidemic will suffer.

Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, said he was dumbfounded by the grant program.

“They confirmed it yesterday. They call ’em smoking kits, and say it is about equity, but they have in essence confirmed that they are going to be mailing and sending pipes that can be used to smoke crack and meth to underserved communities in America,” Mr. Rubio said in a Twitter video. “This is insanity. This isn’t even about liberal and conservative anymore, this is about crazy versus normal, insane versus common sense.”

HHS said the senator’s comments were “misleading and misinformed” but didn’t specify what Mr. Rubio got wrong.

“Evidence-based community harm reduction services such as naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and syringe services programs help people stay alive and are proven strategies for addressing this tragic epidemic,” the agency said. “The Harm Reduction Grant Program offered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is designed to put these services within reach for Americans who are struggling with substance use so they can stay healthy and safe, avoid overdose death, and find pathways into evidence-based treatments.”

• This story is based in part on wire service reports.