On 7th Street in northwest Washington, D.C., within sight of a children’s playground, stands a vending machine sponsored by a group called “HIPS” and the city’s health department. The vending machine does not provide soda or sweets. Instead, it dispenses syringes and other pieces of drug paraphernalia.

The instructions on the machine claim that a special code is required to access these products. But after punching a few numbers, I became the proud owner of a taxpayer-funded, HIPS-branded “Safer Rectal Drug Administration Kit,” or “Booty Bumping/Boofing Kit.”

A QR code on the package took me to a page describing the rectal administration process. The document insists that booty bumping is “usually quick and easy,” delivering “a fast hit and rush that’s usually stronger than smoking.” It also reminds users to “poop beforehand if you haven’t recently so the drugs get absorbed.”

These machines are the latest experiment enacted in the name of “harm reduction.” The movement’s proponents once supported the one-to-one exchange of dirty and clean needles to stop the spread of diseases such as HIV and sought to bring hardcore addicts into contact with social workers. Nowadays, they support the distribution of free meth pipes, booty bumping kits, and other drug paraphernalia to almost anyone who asks. Instead of reducing harm or enabling treatment, the movement’s advocates are using taxpayer funds to subsidize addiction.