Turning Point USA’s Frontlines team is raising new questions about Los Angeles’ taxpayer-supported approach to homelessness after documenting organizations on Skid Row handing out drug paraphernalia just days after the Trump administration vowed to move federal homelessness policy away from so-called “harm reduction.”
Frontlines TPUSA posted video this week showing independent journalist Jonathan Choe visiting several locations on Skid Row and obtaining harm-reduction supplies that included meth pipes, needles, cookers and other items.
The footage comes as the Trump administration moves to overhaul the federal government’s response to homelessness and addiction. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner has repeatedly argued that federal programs should focus on treatment, recovery and self-sufficiency rather than policies the administration believes enable continued drug use.
The controversy follows a Los Angeles press conference this week where Turner and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blasted the city’s homelessness response and promoted recovery-focused alternatives.
WATCH:
NEW: Just days after America’s homelessness czar declared so-called “harm reduction” would no longer be used to address the drug crisis on the streets, non-profits on LA’s Skid Row were still handing out free meth pipes, cookers, and needles.@choeshow | @TPUSA pic.twitter.com/pS3n9OONIe
— FRONTLINES TPUSA (@FrontlinesTPUSA) August 14, 2026
During that event, Turner displayed a brown bag that he said contained drug paraphernalia distributed to homeless individuals using taxpayer dollars. He argued that such programs fail to provide the kind of long-term care needed to help people escape addiction.
HUD has already taken aggressive action against Los Angeles’ homelessness bureaucracy. In June, the department announced the immediate suspension of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority as the lead agency for the region’s homelessness response, citing alleged financial mismanagement and inadequate safeguards. HUD said the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, led by LAHSA, received nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funding over the previous five years.
The administration has also changed how billions of dollars in federal homelessness funding are distributed. HUD announced a $4.04 billion Continuum of Care funding opportunity in June that places a greater focus on recovery and self-sufficiency. Turner said at the time that simply providing housing had failed to adequately address addiction and mental illness among people living on the streets.
Los Angeles County, however, has long defended harm-reduction programs as a public-health strategy. County documents describe programs providing syringe services, naloxone and other resources designed to reduce overdose deaths and the transmission of diseases while connecting people with additional services. A 2026 county resource guide lists multiple Los Angeles organizations offering syringe exchange and other harm-reduction services, including programs serving Skid Row.
In the Frontlines video, Choe argued that the latter problem remains widespread on Skid Row.
“For the most part at these harm reduction facilities you’ll have workers giving out these drug supplies no questions asked,” he said, “but what they fail to do is ask if the addict wants any treatment or recovery.”
