The Los Angeles County government is handing out free pipes for smoking crack, methamphetamine and opioids as a part of its effort to reduce drug overdoses, according to a report.
The pipes are being handed out along with clean needles and other supplies as part of the county's "harm reduction" effort, which also includes supplies aimed at avoiding and reversing an overdose. However, this effort is being met with opposition by some community leaders, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Manuel Campito, who runs a cleanup organization in Skid Row, Los Angeles, compared crack pipe giveaways to assisted suicide.
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"I wouldn’t get pipes to give them out myself," said Campito, a recovered addict. "You know Dr. Kevorkian assisted suicide? That’s pretty much what it is."
Harm reduction efforts aim to reduce dangers in drug use, such as the prevalence of fentanyl, rather than reducing drug use itself.
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Harm reduction advocates in favor of pipe distribution, which are often a part of "smoking kits," note they help minimize infection and transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C in users who cut their lips on broken, reused glass. Access to free, clean pipes may also help users move from injecting drugs to smoking drugs, which is safer.
Sandra Mims, a worker with the harm reduction group LA Community Health Project, said the pipes are a big draw for users.
"Those are the crowd pleasers," Mims said, according to the LA Times.
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Los Angeles County increased its harm reduction budget from $5.4 million to $31.5 million in recent years as homelessness deaths spiked largely due to the prevalence of fentanyl, the LA Times reported. More than half of the nearly 1,500 homeless people who overdosed on drugs from 2020 to 2021 tested positive for fentanyl.
The Los Angeles County Public Health Department received $398,960 this from the Department of Health and Human Services through its federal harm reduction grant program. The program, launched by the Biden administration as the first federal harm reduction initiative, authorizes funds to be spent on "smoking kits," which federal officials claim will not be spent on kits with pipes.
