TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed legal action against two federal agencies after they withheld information from an investigation into a so-called harm reduction effort by the federal government that paid for crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia in “safe smoking kits.”
In February 2022, President Biden announced the deadline for service organizations and local governments to apply for $30 million in federal funding for the effort. At the time, White House sources claimed that crack pipes or other paraphernalia would not be included in the federally-funded kits.
But a subsequent investigation found several incidences of kits containing crack pipes. In addition, kits obtained from a harm-reduction center located only a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol and two elementary schools contained drug paraphernalia.
The state of Florida filed a FOIA request for access to federal records regarding the program in February 2022. Now, more than a year later, Attorney General Ashley Moody says federal agencies are still hiding records and have not responded to the request. Moody says Florida will now pressure the DOJ and HHS in court.
“If Biden is using your tax dollars to buy crack pipes for drug addicts, you have the right to know. Our country is in the grips of a drug overdose crisis, and the Biden administration is stonewalling our requests and keeping the public in the dark about so many misguided, reckless policies. We are taking them to court to get answers for the American people,” said Attorney General Ashley Moody.
News of the alleged recklessness from the Biden administration comes as the nation is experiencing record drug overdose deaths, and the federal government is deepening the record-high national debt. Drug overdose deaths topped 100,000 in 2021, and the U.S. is currently more than $31 trillion in debt.
To view Attorney General Moody’s legal action, click here.
