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MARIJUANA MOMENT
SENATOR OBJECTS TO ‘WAR ON DRUGS’ BILL THAT WOULD REQUIRE SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES
TO REPORT USERS TO DEA
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POLITICS
SENATOR OBJECTS TO ‘WAR ON DRUGS’ BILL THAT WOULD REQUIRE SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES
TO REPORT USERS TO DEA
Published
3 days ago
on
July 21, 2023
By
Kyle Jaeger
A Democratic senator is opposing a bill that he says would perpetuate the
discriminatory consequences of the war on drugs by forcing social media and
other technology companies to broadly surveil people in an effort to combat
illicit drug sales and lead to “meritless” referrals to the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA).
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) vowed that he will raise an objection to any future
unanimous consent motion to advance the Cooper Davis Act on the floor on
Thursday, about a week after an amended version of the legislation was approved
by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in a way that would
require social media companies and other communications service providers to
report instances where there’s suspected sales, manufacturing or possession with
intent to distribute of fentanyl, methamphetamine, prescription opioids and
counterfeit drugs happening in their networks. Marijuana and other controlled
substances would not specifically be targeted.
While the legislation says it would not “require” the companies to monitor or
affirmatively search for such content, it imposes a maximum fine of $190,000 if
the business “knowingly and willfully fails to make a report” to DEA about
relevant drug-related content that they become aware of. A second offense would
be punishable by a maximum $380,000 fine.
Social media companies would also be permitted to report to DEA if they simply
believe they have a “reasonable belief” that a user is involved in the listed
prohibited activities.
Wyden said that there’s “no question that there is a fentanyl epidemic in the
United States,” but he argued that the bill “fails to offer serious solutions to
this epidemic.”
“Instead, it would mandate that platforms scan their users’ communications for
anything that could be interpreted as being about selling or using drugs,” the
senator said. “Given this country’s experience with the failed ‘War on Drugs’ it
is easy to predict that communities of color will disproportionately have their
conversations surveilled and referred for prosecutions, which is why it is
opposed by civil rights groups, including the ACLU, NAACP and Leadership
Conference on Civil and Human Rights.”
The bill itself doesn’t seem designed to target people who merely use drugs as
the senator suggested; however, the wide latitude that companies would be given
to interpret suspected instances of possession with intent to distribute could
ultimately lead to social media companies alerting DEA about people who only
discussed simple possession.
“Given the penalties in the bill and the ambiguity about intent, there are
concerns that it is very likely that use/possession will be swept up in reports
by companies to the DEA,” a Wyden spokesperson told Marijuana Moment on Friday.
The legislation was amended in committee to address certain concerns, including
by requiring the Justice Department to “limit” the records it receives only to
those that are “necessary” to complete an investigation. And it was also revised
to add penalties for service providers who “knowingly” provide false information
to the government or omit relevant details from their reports.
It was further amended to require DEA to submit a report to Congress one year
after enactment to detail how many reports it received and other non-personal
information about the nature of the reports. Additionally, the bill now
explicitly exempts broadband internet providers from being required to submit
reports.
But Wyden still has concerns about the legislation in its current form.
“Forcing a platform to decide what represents a drug transaction means that lots
of innocent people will be referred for investigation and prosecution,” he said.
“Finally, the reporting structure of this legislation is likely to produce large
numbers of meritless referrals to the Drug Enforcement Administration and do
little to address the real causes of the fentanyl epidemic or protect vulnerable
communities.”
—
Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters
pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and
hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to
get access.
—
In a letter to the Judiciary Committee last month, ACLU said that the “criminal
legal system has always enforced drug crimes disproportionately in Black and
Brown communities,” and the bill “will result in the same disparate outcomes.”
“People on online services often post things that are untrue or exaggerated in
order to promote a persona—and as the DEA has observed, illegal activity is
often transacted in coded communication that is not easily decipherable,” it
said, referencing the agency’s attempts to “decode” emojis that it says are used
in drug transactions.
Congressional efforts to combat the illicit fentanyl market have been met with
skepticism and opposition from drug policy reform and civil rights advocates.
That includes a separate piece of legislation that passed the House in May that
would ramp up criminal enforcement of fentanyl-related trafficking, while at the
same time removing some barriers to research for Schedule I drugs like marijuana
and certain psychedelics. A GOP senator also sought to include the language of
that bill in the chamber’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA).
> New York Is Now Accepting Applications For Marijuana Farmers Markets
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Kyle Jaeger
Kyle Jaeger is Marijuana Moment's Sacramento-based senior editor. His work has
also appeared in High Times, VICE and attn.
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