Biden Administration’s $29 Million to Distribute Safe Smoking Kits

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Multiple reports have indicated that the Washington administration will allocate funds for the payment of the issuance of safe smoking kits. It is part of ongoing efforts to decrease harmful effects from abusing material over the next 3 years. In recent days, various conservative news outlets have also said the Biden administration is supposedly seeking to allocate funds. The move is an effort to enhance racial equality, while this amount is dedicated to the distribution of crack pipes for drug-addicted people.

Moreover, the HHS (US Department of Health & Human Services) has described the grant request for its reduction program for harmful substances. The department said the key objective of this valuable program is to decrease the infection risks among drug-addicted Americans. Meanwhile, the distribution of safe smoking kits is just one product on a list of its proposed 20 valuable items.

It is noteworthy that the SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) is also a department of the HHS. On December 8, 2021, the SAMHSA issued a Notice of Funding for the Harm Reduction Program Grant 2022. The department set the deadline date for the submission of the application as of February 7, 2022. The claims of recent reports will be discovered after the execution of this important measure.

The Application Form

This application consists of 75 pages and is still available to read online. The application form clearly indicates that eligible applicants for the grant include community-based organizations, tribal, governments, tribal organizations, state, and local governments. It says the major objective of this program is to help community-based programs. It would effectively prevent overdosing, as well as syringe service programs, and other services to reduce harm.

The grand is dedicated to prevention activities to provide support in controlling the spread of infectious diseases. It will efficiently prevent the outcomes of such diseases for individuals with risk or development of the SUD (substance use disorders). Moreover, the application form mentions one of the requirements for grant funding recipients. It says they should purchase equipment and supplies to improve efforts for harm reduction.

Safe Smoking Kits

The Safe Smoking Kits or Supplies is one of the key objectives that were earlier discussed in some recent articles about crack pipes. Other products listed in the form include disease testing kits and syringes to avoid and control the spread of most critical diseases.

The applicants are expected to establish a behavioral health discrepancy impact statement within 60 days of the awarded funding. However, the overall plan of this program is to decrease harm, not racial equality. One portion of this impact statement is presenting the participation of people who need to receive funds during the grant period. The statement from the department of HHS says Executive Order 13985 will serve the communities. It says their priority for this program is underserved communities and populations that are massively affected by substance use disorders (SUD).

The point to be noted is that US President Joe Biden issued the executive order on 20th January 2021. This executive order says the US Federal Government should engage in an extensive approach to enhance equity for all. It includes people of color and others who were greatly underserved and badly affected by constant poverty & inequality. The department of HHS said the awarding of grant funding will start from 15th May 2022 with a total of over $29 million in funding for over a 3 years period.