Hawkeye Reporter

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), along with Senators Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), has reintroduced the Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act. This bipartisan bill would require social media companies and communication service providers to actively report illegal drug sales and distribution on their platforms to law enforcement.

The goal of the legislation is to provide more information for state and local authorities as they address online drug trafficking and prosecute those involved in selling drugs, particularly targeting efforts that affect young people.

“Fentanyl overdoses claim the lives of tens-of-thousands of Americans each year, many of whom suffered accidental poisonings after taking deadly pills marketed on social media platforms,” Grassley said. “After successfully passing the HALT Fentanyl Act into law, Senate Republicans are continuing to advance legislation to combat America’s fentanyl crisis and save lives. Congress must hold Big Tech accountable for its ongoing role in the illicit drug trade.”

Marshall pointed to border policy as a contributing factor in fentanyl availability. “For four years, Joe Biden’s reckless open borders allowed fentanyl to flood our communities, creating a crisis in every state. We still lose a Kansan a day to fentanyl poisoning,” he said. “Cooper Davis was a bright young man from Johnson County who tragically died from a pill laced with fentanyl purchased on the social media platform: Snapchat. The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act requires social media platforms to report any drug activity on their platform to law enforcement. We will not rest in our fight until no Kansan loses their life to fentanyl poisoning.”

Other cosponsors include Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

The bill has received support from families of victims as well as several organizations such as the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Directors Association, Partnership for Safe Medicine, U.S. Deputy Sherriff’s Association, The Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, Mothers Against Prescription Drug Abuse, Community Anti-Drug Coalition Association, Alexander Neville Foundation, National Fraternal Order of Police, and Kansas Sheriffs Association.

Libby Davis, mother of Cooper Davis, commented: “Our family continues to be extremely grateful for Senator Marshall and his colleagues’ dedication to this legislation. We are both honored and saddened to have another name, Devin Norring, added to this bill...We need our legislators to come together and get this bipartisan bill across the finish line so that countless children can be saved, theirs being no exception.”

The family of Devin J. Norring also voiced support: “Our family & the Devin J. Norring Foundation wholeheartedly support the Cooper Davis & Devin Norring Act – legislation that serves as a critical step toward protecting families from the deadly threat of fentanyl sold through social media...It’s time for truth, transparency, and action.”

The act is named after two individuals who died after ingesting counterfeit pills containing fentanyl purchased via social media platforms—Cooper Davis from Kansas in 2021 through Snapchat allegedly involving a Missouri dealer; his family started ‘Keepin’ Clean for Coop’ following his death. Devin Norring was 19 when he died in 2020; his family established the Devin J. Norring Foundation in response.