The Multnomah County Health Department will begin distributing tin foil and straws this month to fentanyl smokers at sites across Portland, WW has learned.

The “smoking supplies,” which also include glass pipes for smoking meth and crack as well as “snorting kits,” are part of a national effort to minimize the health consequences of drug use. Smoking is considered by many health experts a safer way of consuming hard drugs than injection, and government officials are now seeking to encourage users who haven’t already switched to do so—and to make it safer for those who already have.

Jesus Tap Dancing Fucking Christ.

The policy is brand new. Multnomah County confirmed it Thursday afternoon after WW inquired. Spokeswoman Sarah Dean noted that the rise of fentanyl, which is commonly smoked and not injected, has decreased demand for the county’s “harm reduction” services. Visits to clinics have dropped by more than 60% since 2019.

Spokeswoman? What the fuck is that term?

The smoking supplies serve two purposes, Dean says. They encourage people to stop injecting, a vector for disease. And they encourage people who are already smoking to come into clinics, where the county can offer fentanyl test strips, Narcan, a fast-acting overdose reversal drug, and other services. “Several decades of research have also shown that providing supplies for safer drug use does not increase illegal drug use,” she adds.

Such unbelievable bullshit, how can anyone believe this?

Despite the county’s efforts, however, overdose deaths have continued to climb. They’ve doubled in Multnomah County between 2018 and 2021, thanks to the rise of fentanyl. (Data for 2022 is still trickling in.)

DOUBLED. DOUBLED!

Mayor Ted Wheeler, meanwhile, has taken a different tack. He recently announced, but later withdrew, a proposal to ban the smoking of fentanyl in Portland’s public spaces.

After initially declining to comment, the mayor’s office releasing a scathing statement.

“I adamantly oppose distributing paraphernalia to encourage using a drug that is the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 and responsible for 190 fatal overdoses a day in the U.S.,” Wheeler said. “This misguided approach also results in greater risk to public safety for those who simply want to enjoy our city without walking through a cloud of toxic smoke.” (County health officials say that fentanyl smoke puts passersby “at very low risk of health effects.”)

How amusing.