Report: Safe smoking kits include free crack pipes — and here's the proof



A new report from The Washington Free Beacon has alleged that at least some of the safe smoking kits that the Biden administration's $30 million safe smoking program may bolster do, in fact, include free crack pipes.

What's a brief history here?

In February remarks, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki insisted that such kits — provided to drug users for a safer experience — did not include free smoking paraphernalia, and said that pipes "were never a part of the kit" and that contrary reports were "inaccurate."

"A safe smoking kit may contain alcohol swabs, lip balm, [and] other materials to promote hygiene and reduce the transmission of diseases ... like HIV and hepatitis," she said at the time.

What are the details?

In a Thursday morning report, the Free Beacon noted that crack pipes are available in safe smoking kits all up and down the East Coast in cities such as Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and more.

The outlet's Patrick Hauf obtained the kits through visits to "harm reduction organizations."

"While the contents of safe-smoking kits vary from one organization to another — and while those from some organizations may not contain crack pipes — all of the organizations we visited made crack pipes as well as paraphernalia for the use of heroin, cocaine, and crystal methamphetamine readily available without requiring or offering rehabilitation services, suggesting that pipes are included in many if not most of the kits distributed across the country," Hauf wrote.

Hauf also pointed out that all of the centers that the Free Beacon's reporters visited "are run by health-focused nonprofits and government agencies," which Hauf said are the groups eligible to receive funding from the Biden administration's grant program.

"None of the organizations responded to inquiries about whether they applied for government grants," he added. "It is not clear which organizations will receive those grants, nor has the administration said how it will ensure the kits will not contain crack pipes. The Department of Health and Human Services, which will oversee the Biden grant program, declined to provide a list of groups that have applied for funding, citing 'confidentiality.'"

The administration, however, is poised to announce the recipients on May 15.

A deeper look

In Baltimore, a non-profit organization that provides harm reduction services apparently provides crack pipes, and an employee told the outlet that identification is not required to receive a kit.

The kits, Hauf reported, contain a variety of items including "glass crack pipes as well as Chore Boy copper mesh, a cleaning product used to hold the crack rock at the end of the pipe."

"Most importantly, the organization provides all drug paraphernalia recipients an 'Authorized Harm Reduction Program Participant Card' that serves as a get-out-of-jail-free card to show to law enforcement, because the paraphernalia is otherwise illegal in the state of Maryland," Hauf added.

Hauf's report added that the organization receives both local and state funding, and has reportedly received at least $200,000 from billionaire George Soros' Open Society Foundations. The group, Hauf reported, "received $200,000 in government grants in 2019."

In Boston, the story was much the same.

"One pipe per person, once a day," an employee reportedly told the outlet.

In New York City's Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center, an employee offered up a "long menu of drug paraphernalia" that is available to users free of charge.

"Included on the menu was a 'booty bump' kit for rectal ingestion of narcotics, which is recommended by many harm reduction centers as a safer way to use meth," Hauf explained and added that the Alliance for Positive Change, which oversees the harm reduction center, received at least $20 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since 2004.

A harm reduction center in Washington, D.C., also reportedly hands out a variety of pipes and mouthpieces without even asking for identification.

The center, known as HIPS — or Honoring Individual Power and Strength — is said to have received $3.1 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which Hauf points out oversees the Biden administration's harm reduction program.

You can see photos of some of the kits below.

Yes, Safe Smoking Kits Include Free Crack Pipes. We Know Because We Got Them.\n\nI visited these "harm reduction" spots on the east coast. What I saw was a system where addicts are handed pipes, needles, and more with no offer of rehabilitation. @FreeBeacon \nhttps://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/yes-safe-smoking-kits-include-free-crack-pipes-we-know-because-we-got-them/\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/NArCqzJFOp
— Patrick Hauf (@Patrick Hauf) 1652359623

Brian Stelter, after Elon Musk buys Twitter, wonders who'd want to attend a party 'where there are no rules, where there is total freedom for everybody'



After hearing the news Monday that multibillionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter, Brian Stelter — CNN's chief media correspondent — wondered on air if folks will want to use Twitter if it offers them too much freedom, as Musk has made it clear he wants Twitter to open the free speech floodgates.

What are the details?

"If you get invited to something where there are no rules, where there is total freedom for everybody, do you actually want to go to that party, or are you going to decide to stay home?" Stelter asked. "And that's a question for Twitter users."

At that point the camera was trained on the larger group behind the big desk, and the expressions on the faces of CNN Newsroom hosts Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell were priceless:

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @FreeBeacon

Stelter continued: "Some Twitter users [would] love the idea that there's gonna be absolutely no moderation and no rules at all. Others might not want to be anywhere near that. Am I crazy, Matt?"

With that, Stelter turned in his own rather telling expression as he let loose with a pained chuckle:

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @FreeBeacon

CNN reporter Matt Egan agreed with Stelter and added that little to no moderation on Twitter also could scare away advertisers.

Here's the clip:

Stelter on Elon Musk buying Twitter: "If you get invited to something where there are no rules, where there is total freedom for everybody, do you actually want to go to that party or are you going to decide to stay home?"pic.twitter.com/rhSmF04OUk
— Washington Free Beacon (@Washington Free Beacon) 1650914217

How did viewers react?

Commenters had no mercy on Stelter:

  • Talk radio host Dan O'Donnell noted that Stelter "just revealed that he's never actually been to a party."
  • "Is this accurate? I think not," writer Ann Bauer offered. "There will be rules. Musk is talking about verifying more accounts (anonymity is one of the most lawless facets of Twitter imo) and I'm positive he's planning to regulate hate speech. This 'no rules' pitch is bulls**t. It won't be THEIR rules."
  • "Uh ... yes. Yes, I want to go to that party," another commenter wrote. "What kind of parties does he go to?"
  • "Tell me you never got invited to parties without telling me you never got invited to parties," another user quipped.

Anything else?

Stelter hasn't had an easy time of it lately. Just days ago he got wickedly mocked over the demise of CNN+, and about week ago Twitter's former CEO Jack Dorsey ripped Stelter and said he's seen CNN promoting falsified news reports. Not to mention the college freshman who challenged Stelter on mainstream media bias at a "Disinformation" conference earlier this month.

Media watchdog NUKES Biden's claim his policies are not 'holding back domestic energy production'​



After announcing the U.S. would no longer allow imports of Russian oil, President Joe Biden claimed that his energy policies are not to blame for soaring gas prices.

"It’s simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production. That’s simply not true," Biden said during a speech on Tuesday.


BIDEN: "It's simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production."pic.twitter.com/Eth8IuVhfp
— Townhall.com (@Townhall.com) 1646757502


Since Biden (or whoever's really pulling the strings) thinks we the people are dumb enough to believe this malarky, and the so-called fact checkers only factcheck facts that make Biden look bad, it was left to independent media watchdogs like journalist Drew Holden to bring the receipts.

"It’s intellectually disingenuous for President Biden to pretend that he and his party haven’t taken action to make domestic energy production more difficult and, as a result, have made energy more expensive. They’ve done a lot with the explicit goal of doing just that," tweeted Holden, who has become known for his truth-revealing Twitter threads like the one below:

(You might want to grab a snack here, this is a long one.)

THREAD\n\nPresident Biden recently said \u201cit\u2019s simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production.\u201d\n\nI figure the fact checkers likely won\u2019t touch this one, so I did the homework.\n\nBiden\u2019s claim isn\u2019t true. I explain. pic.twitter.com/dLfbeP7WFt
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872093


This opposition to domestic energy production isn\u2019t new. When Biden first took office, he moved to ban new oil and gas leases on federal land (a huge slice of US energy) via executive order.\n\nThe measure was eventually stopped by the courts.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/climate/biden-climate-change.html\u00a0\u2026
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872093


Biden also proposed ending a wide range of tax benefits for drilling and exploration, something supporters said would hopefully \u201cdiscourage additional oil and gas development.\u201d\n\nThis makes the process more expensive, particularly when competing with heavily subsidized renewables.pic.twitter.com/w4fS3iI4uy
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872095


Taken together, these early moves represent what climate activist Bill McKibben said \u201cmay well mark the official beginning of the end of the fossil-fuel era\u201d arguing \u201cthey send a decisive signal about the end of one epoch and the beginning of another.\u201d https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-biden-administrations-landmark-day-in-the-fight-for-the-climate/amp\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/eaMJ9PUfrf
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872097


All of these federal efforts came with a clear goal in mind: sending a signal that the days of fossil fuels would be ending soon.\n\nAgain, once upon a time, the corporate press was comfortable admitting this was the goal:https://time.com/5934090/joe-biden-climate-executive-order/?amp=true\u00a0\u2026
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872098


And it wasn\u2019t just Biden acting on his own. \n\nAs @SaysSimonson wrote about for @FreeBeacon, Dems in Congress have pushed to restrict domestic energy production even as prices have climbed:https://freebeacon.com/politics/how-dems-helped-spike-gas-prices/\u00a0\u2026
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872098


And there were numerous hearings where Democrats have demonized the oil and gas industry in colorful but seriously dubious ways, making the industry\u2019s standing on that side of the aisle clear.pic.twitter.com/cqwalOqdnN
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872100
Now, to be clear, the impacts of some of these efforts have been overblown.\n\nDespite trying to ban new drilling on federal lands, lots of plans have moved forward to do so - more than under President Trump\u2019s first year (largely b/c of Obama-era rules), but fewer than last year.pic.twitter.com/smVuE47qXc
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872102
But it\u2019s intellectually disingenuous for President Biden to pretend that he and his party haven\u2019t taken action to make domestic energy production more difficult and, as a result, have made energy more expensive.\n\nThey\u2019ve done a lot with the explicit goal of doing just that.
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872103
Increased costs have always been a good-faith concern about climate efforts among lots of people, left, right and center.\n\nBiden and his team ignored those warnings and helped make the bed they find themselves laying.\n\nRather than admit that, now they\u2019re trying to memoryhole it.
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden) 1646872103

Rittenhouse prosecutor claims, contrary to law, that 'you lose the right to self-defense when you're the one who brought the gun'



The lead prosecutor in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial made an extremely puzzling claim involving guns and self-defense during his closing arguments to the jury Monday afternoon.

What did he say?

In an obvious affront to the second amendment rights of all Americans, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger argued that the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse, gave up his right to self-defense when he chose to bring a gun to the Black Lives Matter riots in the Wisconsin city last summer.

"You can't claim self-defense against an unarmed man," Binger stated before adding, "You lose the right to self-defense when you're the one who brought the gun." The law does not state, either in Wisconsin or elsewhere, that the self-defense can only be claimed against people who are armed with a gun.

Elsewhere he claimed, "You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create. If you're the one threatening others, you lose the right to claim self-defense," according to Newsweek.

Binger: \u201cYou lose the right to self defense when you\u2019re the one who brought the gun.\u201dpic.twitter.com/CFD3jcc8jg

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) 1636998742

In their closing arguments, Binger and his team suggested that Rittenhouse was responsible for provoking the "entire incident" of attacks from rioters on Aug. 25, 2020, by bringing a weapon to the city and thus could not claim self-defense in the incidents.

Binger pointed to a moment prior to the Rittenhouse's shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum in which the defendant allegedly put down a fire extinguisher and pointed a gun at a bystander.

"This is the provocation," the prosecutor remarked. "This is what starts the incident."

What's the background?

Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the incident, is facing multiple felony murder charges for fatally shooting Rosenbaum (36), Anthony Huber (26), and wounding Gage Grosskreutz (28) during the riots in Kenosha last summer.

The Illinois teenager has maintained that he was present at the riots in order to protect local businesses against looting and burning and to provide medical aid to people injured during the uprisings. His legal defense has argued that their client acted in self-defense when he shot three men with an AR-15.

Videos of the incidents seen by the public appear to show Rittenhouse being chased down and physically threatened before he fired any shots. The defendant himself testified last week that Rosenbaum had threatened to kill him verbally before running after him and grabbing the barrel of his gun.

Later, he was chased down yet again and hit in the head with a skateboard by Huber prior to firing his own gun. Grosskreutz, who survived the gunshot wound to his arm, testified that he pointed a handgun at Rittenhouse before the defendant shot him.

The defense is expected to make its closing argument in the case later in the afternoon, then a jury will begin deliberating whether or not to convict.

Rashida Tlaib caught on camera: Just wearing a mask because 'I've got a Republican tracker here'



Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) was caught on camera saying that she's only masking up because she was being tailed by what she referred to as a "Republican tracker," The Washington Free Beacon reports.

What are the details?

Tlaib made the bizarre-sounding admission while talking with an attendee at a Detroit community event with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge.

After the event, Tlaib was talking with a group of people when a maskless attendee approached her and mistakenly thought that Tlaib was scolding him for being "the one unmasked guy" in the surrounding area.

"Oh, no, oh, not you!" she laughingly said in the video.

She then pulled down her mask and smiled at the attendee and went on to insist, "No, no, no; I'm just wearing it because I've got a Republican tracker here."

This isn't the first time Tlaib has been in the spotlight for masking snafus.

In August, she was captured dancing while maskless during an extremely crowded, indoor wedding reception in Dearborn, Michigan, despite skyrocketing COVID-19 case counts triggered by the highly contagious Delta variant.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Tlaib's office did not return a request for comment on the video.

Caught on Video: @RashidaTlaib Admits She Only Wears Mask for Cameras"I'm just wearing it because I've got a Repu… https://t.co/Lr4UboMHyW

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) 1633535691.0

What else?

Many social media users took to Twitter to express their feelings on what they believed was Tlaib's hypocritical statement.

Writer David Marcus wrote, "Huh. Guess my kid must have a Republican tracker at school, too."

Huh. Guess my kid must have a Republican tracker at school, too. https://t.co/1h9qvrsSXq

— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) 1633538599.0

Non-profit org FreedomWorks added, "CONFIRMED: Masks are a political theatre acted out by leftists."

CONFIRMED: Masks are a political theatre acted out by leftists. #ampFW https://t.co/vXEj3pj14X

— FreedomWorks (@FreedomWorks) 1633542129.0

Economist Alan Cole wrote, "This is the inevitable product of the "shame people for not following the dumb rules" culture we've invented. If we just admit that outdoor masking is dumb, this can all go away! It's all a prison of our own making!"

This is the inevitable product of the "shame people for not following the dumb rules" culture we've invented.If w… https://t.co/GtxkjhxLvM

— Alan Cole (@AlanMCole) 1633536248.0

Chicago-area sport reporter Julio Rausseo added, "So this mean [sic] @RepRashida believes the mask [sic] are ineffective?"

So this mean @RepRashida believes the mask are ineffective? https://t.co/oVWEXJpIYP

— Julio N. Rausseo (@JNReports) 1633541641.0