Hi, welcome to "Full Frontal."
I'm Samantha Bee.
As we get closer to this year's midterms,
Republicans have been raising the volume on their culture
wars across the nation, which is crazy
because the previous volume was this.
Republicans love to manufacture controversies that
send their base into a frenzy that will eventually, I'm sure,
lead them to burn someone in a Wicker Man
to get a better vote harvest.
Unsurprisingly, though, conservatives
are also scaring their base by leaning
into that classic racist rhetoric, the war on drugs.
A "first of its kind" federal grant
intended to fight the opioid crisis
quickly became the subject of a right wing conspiracy campaign
last week, peddled by all of the usual suspects.
This administration is now going to spend $30 million
from hardworking taxpayers on buying
crack pipes for drug addicts.
Joe Biden's HHS are going to distribute
crack pipes for free to addicts across the country.
Joe Biden's latest idea is to pay Black people
to smoke more crack.
We're not sure if this was Hunter's
idea or Joe's way of getting his cartel partners to trust them.
No, Jesse.
Actually, it was your mom's idea.
But while Republicans are acting like the Biden
administration's harm reduction grant would
basically be a gift card to Drugs"R"Us,
the truth is far less stupid.
REPORTER: $30 million are being invested by the Biden-Harris
administration to support drug harm reduction services that
include treatment, prevention, but also syringe
exchanges and smoking kits.
This is historic in nature because we've been dealing
with the overdose crisis for so long,
and the federal government has not
invested in the public health infrastructure that we need.
So this is really about giving resources
to overburdened, under-resourced nonprofits
that we know will lower the incidence of drug use,
and we also know works to reduce the likelihood
of people overdosing.
On one hand, this would be a "first of its kind"
federal grant that would pay for harm reduction tools
to help save the lives of people suffering from addiction.
On the other, this goes against the official Republican drug
policy of, go [BLEEP] yourself, or
as that campaign was called in the '80s,
just say, go [BLEEP] yourself.
The harm reduction grant was actually announced back
in December, but Republicans are just now flipping out
because of a recent article in "The Washington Free Beacon"
titled, "Biden Admin to Fund Crack Pipe Distribution
to Advance Racial Equity."
This headline is naturally grossly misleading,
both in that it isn't accurate, according to officials,
and in that "The Washington Free Beacon" looks like it's just
some asshole's shitty blog.
You know the goal isn't to get as many fonts as possible
on one page, right?
OK.
For their part, the White House and the Department
of Health and Human Services claim
that funding crack pipes isn't part of the program
and that it never even was.
But rather than kowtowing to Republicans,
Democrats should be focused on something
even more important-- harm reduction actually [BLEEP]
works during a time when we need it to work.
Drug overdose deaths have increased by 28.5%
over the previous year.
Look, I hate to call it early, but I
think America's 40-year-long program
of having a dog in an overcoat threatening
to bite children who take drugs isn't paying dividends.
But for those still struggling to understand,
harm reduction is simply an evidence-based approach
to reducing the negative impacts of drug and alcohol use,
including everything from overdoses to infections.
MAN: This is one of the harm reduction kits
that we carry out on the streets with us,
and we have prophylactics in here.
We have band-aids, alcohol pads.
We also have fentanyl testing strips
so you can test for fentanyl.
We have Narcan, which is an opioid overdose reversal
medication.
We also have a pamphlet on preventing AIDS and STDs,
but we also give them cards with a list of detoxes that
are locally, in local area.
Research shows harm reduction tools are critical in helping
drug users protect themselves.
Programs promoting clean syringes
are associated with a 50% reduction in incidences of HIV
and hepatitis C because they help prevent people
from needing to share needles.
Also, harm reduction isn't new.
These programs have been around since the 1980s,
with over 100 overdose prevention sites
operating around the world.
And you know how many overdose deaths have
occurred in those facilities?
[BLEEP] zero.
So if harm reduction works, then why
are Republicans so against it?
Because conservatives' ongoing panic over
drugs was never about helping people.
It was about using racial stereotypes
to arrest people of color.
The context of the way in which US drug
policy was developed was that there
was always, for each drug, a specific, racialized link.
Hollywood was celebrating cocaine use.
At the same time, the police were
busy going out into Black communities
and sweeping up Black people for small amounts of crack cocaine.
REPORTER: With overwhelming support,
Ronald Reagan signed into law an unprecedented array
of mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes.
But no drug would receive harsher penalties than crack.
That's insane.
Just because something comes in a different form
doesn't mean it's worse.
Samantha Bee is no worse than my previous form of Samantha A.
And I'll still be just as good when
I evolve into my final form of Samantha C.
When referencing crack, conservatives know they're
appealing to a decades-long racist stereotype that
riles up their base.
That's the whole point.
If they can discredit policies, like harm reduction,
they can both make Democrats look bad
and keep jailing people of color.
For them, it's probably just a bonus
that rebooting the crack panic will likely lead
to more death and suffering.
Unfortunately, by hedging their commitment to harm reduction,
the Biden administration is inadvertently
helping give credence to a bullshit morality
about who deserves help.
Drug addiction is [BLEEP] painful and destructive,
both for those suffering from it and for those in their lives.
Believe it or not, shaming people, jailing people,
and refusing to provide the resources
people need to be safe won't suddenly
end drug abuse or addiction.
And if helping people isn't enough of an argument,
do we really want to go back to having
to watch PSAs like these?
This is crack.
I really want to let kids know that illegal drugs are
bad news.
CAR: Yes, David, it's true.
Over 100,000 teenagers were admitted into hospitals
last year because of drugs.
I care about my body and my health.
That's why I would never, ever take illegal drugs.
And let's face it, what goes in your body
eventually shows up on the outside.
I don't know, Brooke.
If that's true, then why isn't the outside of my body
covered in Tom Hardy?
Eh-oh.
I'm so sorry.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]