Florida to investigate whether taxpayer dollars were used to purchase crack pipes for drug addicts – AG sues Biden admin for ignoring public records requests

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced a lawsuit on Thursday against the Biden administration after it ignored Freedom of Information Act requests seeking proof that taxpayer dollars were not used to purchase crack pipes for safe smoking kits provided to drug addicts.

A $30 million federal grant program, announced by President Biden in February 2022, was used to reimburse local governments that provided addicts with safe smoking kits. The program was touted as a harm reduction effort that advanced safer drug use and racial equity.

Some of the smoking kits found in Baltimore, Boston, New York, Richmond, and Washington, D.C., reportedly contained crack pipes and other drug-related paraphernalia; however, the Biden administration has maintained that crack pipes were not provided to drug addicts in taxpayer-funded kits.

A press release this week by Moody stated that Florida plans to investigate the controversy after Biden's Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services ignored a February 2022 FOIA request.

Federal statute dictates that agencies are required to respond to FOIA requests within 20 days. The response to Moody's request was due March 10, 2022.

"If Biden is using your tax dollars to buy crackpipes for drug addicts, you have the right to know," Moody said in a Thursday statement. "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."

In 2021, there were nearly 51,000 overdose deaths in the United States, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Moody filed a lawsuit against the DOJ and HHS after the Biden administration failed to respond to the FOIA request for over a year. The complaint accused the agencies of causing harm by ignoring the request.

"This harm is irreparable because no monetary damages can compensate Florida for this loss. Florida will continue to be irreparably harmed unless and until Defendants are compelled to conform their conduct to the requirements of the law," the lawsuit read.

Neither the DOJ nor the HHS replied to a request for comment, Fox News Digital reported.

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