II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4858 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require electronic communication 

service providers and remote computing services to report to the Attorney 

General the unlawful sale and distribution of controlled substances. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 

Mr. MARSHALL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require electronic 

communication service providers and remote computing 

services to report to the Attorney General the unlawful 

sale and distribution of controlled substances. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cooper Davis Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF ELECTRONIC COM2 MUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS AND RE3 MOTE COMPUTING SERVICES FOR THE UN4 LAWFUL SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF CON5 TROLLED SUBSTANCES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of the Controlled Sub7 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 871 et seq.) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 521. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF ELECTRONIC 

10 COMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS AND 

11 REMOTE COMPUTING SERVICES FOR THE UN12 LAWFUL SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF CON13 TROLLED SUBSTANCES. 

14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘elec15 tronic communication service’, ‘electronic mail address’, 

16 ‘provider’, ‘remote computing service’, and ‘website’ have 

17 the meanings given those terms in section 2258E of title 

18 18, United States Code. 

19 ‘‘(b) DUTY TO REPORT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 ‘‘(A) DUTY.—In order to reduce the pro22 liferation of the unlawful sale or distribution of 

23 controlled substances, a provider— 

24 ‘‘(i) shall, as soon as reasonably pos25 sible after obtaining actual knowledge of 

26 any facts or circumstances described in 


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1 paragraph (2)(A), take the actions de2 scribed in subparagraph (B); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) may, after obtaining actual 

4 knowledge of any facts or circumstances 

5 described in paragraph (2)(B), take the ac6 tions described in subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(B) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—The actions 

8 described in this subparagraph are— 

9 ‘‘(i) providing to the Drug Enforce10 ment Administration the mailing address, 

11 telephone number, facsimile number, and 

12 electronic mailing address of, and indi13 vidual point of contact for, such provider; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) making a report of such facts or 

16 circumstances to the Drug Enforcement 

17 Administration. 

18 ‘‘(2) FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) APPARENT VIOLATIONS.—The facts 

20 or circumstances described in this subparagraph 

21 are any facts or circumstances from which there 

22 is an apparent violation of section 401, 402, 

23 403, or 406. 

24 ‘‘(B) IMMINENT VIOLATIONS.—The facts 

25 or circumstances described in this subparagraph 


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1 are any facts or circumstances that indicate 

2 that a violation described in subparagraph (A) 

3 may be planned or imminent. 

4 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—In an effort to prevent 

5 future violations of the sections described in subsection 

6 (b)(2)(A), and to the extent the information is within the 

7 custody or control of a provider, the facts and cir8 cumstances included in each report under subsection 

9 (b)(1) shall, at the sole discretion of the provider, include 

10 the following information: 

11 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION ABOUT THE INVOLVED IN12 DIVIDUAL.—Information relating to the identity of 

13 any individual who appears to have violated or plans 

14 to violate the sections described in subsection 

15 (b)(2)(A), which may, to the extent reasonably prac16 ticable, include the electronic mail address, Internet 

17 Protocol address, uniform resource locator, payment 

18 information (excluding personally identifiable infor19 mation), screen names or monikers for the account 

20 used or any other accounts associated with the indi21 vidual, or any other identifying information, includ22 ing self-reported identifying information. 

23 ‘‘(2) HISTORICAL REFERENCE.—Information 

24 relating to when and how a customer or subscriber 

25 of a provider uploaded, transmitted, or received conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Sep 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4858.IS S4858

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1 tent relating to the report or when and how content 

2 relating to the report was reported to or discovered 

3 by the provider, including a date and time stamp 

4 and time zone. 

5 ‘‘(3) GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION INFORMATION.— 

6 Information relating to the geographic location of 

7 the involved individual or website, which may include 

8 the Internet Protocol address or verified address, or, 

9 if not reasonably available, at least one form of geo10 graphic identifying information, including area code 

11 or zip code, provided by the customer or subscriber, 

12 or stored or obtained by the provider, and any infor13 mation as to whether a virtual private network was 

14 used. 

15 ‘‘(4) DATA RELATING TO THE SALE OF CON16 TROLLED SUBSTANCES.—Any data, including sym17 bols, photos, video, icons, or direct messages, relat18 ing to apparent activity involving the unlawful sale 

19 or distribution of a controlled substance or other 

20 content relating to the incident such report is re21 garding. 

22 ‘‘(5) COMPLETE COMMUNICATION.—The com23 plete communication containing the intent to unlaw24 fully sell or distribute a controlled substance, includ25 ing— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any data or information regarding 

2 the transmission of the communication; and 

3 ‘‘(B) any data or other digital files con4 tained in, or attached to, the communication. 

5 ‘‘(d) FORWARDING OF REPORT TO OTHER FEDERAL

6 LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, STATE AND LOCAL LAW

7 ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, AND FOREIGN LAW ENFORCE8 MENT AGENCIES.—The Drug Enforcement Administra9 tion shall make available each report made under sub10 section (b)(1) to other Federal law enforcement agencies, 

11 State and local law enforcement agencies, and foreign law 

12 enforcement agencies involved in the investigation of viola13 tions described in subsection (b)(2)(A). 

14 ‘‘(e) ATTORNEY GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

16 enforce this section. 

17 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

18 The Attorney General may designate a Federal law 

19 enforcement agency or agencies to which the Drug 

20 Enforcement Administration shall forward a report 

21 under subsection (d). 

22 ‘‘(3) DESIGNATION OF FOREIGN AGENCIES.— 

23 The Attorney General may— 

24 ‘‘(A) in consultation with the Secretary of 

25 State, designate foreign law enforcement agenVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Sep 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4858.IS S4858

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1 cies to which a report may be forwarded under 

2 subsection (d); 

3 ‘‘(B) establish the conditions under which 

4 such a report may be forwarded to such agen5 cies; and 

6 ‘‘(C) develop a process for foreign law en7 forcement agencies to request assistance from 

8 Federal law enforcement agencies in obtaining 

9 evidence related to a report referred under sub10 section (d). 

11 ‘‘(4) REPORTING DESIGNATED FOREIGN AGEN12 CIES.—The Attorney General may maintain and 

13 make available to the Department of State, pro14 viders, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen15 ate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

16 House of Representatives a list of the foreign law 

17 enforcement agencies designated under paragraph 

18 (3). 

19 ‘‘(5) NOTIFICATION TO PROVIDERS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Drug Enforce21 ment Administration may notify a provider of 

22 the information described in subparagraph (B), 

23 if— 

24 ‘‘(i) a provider notifies the Drug En25 forcement Administration that the provider 


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1 is making a report under this section as 

2 the result of a request by a foreign law en3 forcement agency; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the Drug Enforcement Adminis5 tration forwards the report described in 

6 clause (i) to— 

7 ‘‘(I) the requesting foreign law 

8 enforcement agency; or 

9 ‘‘(II) another agency in the same 

10 country designated by the Attorney 

11 General under paragraph (3). 

12 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The in13 formation described in this subparagraph is— 

14 ‘‘(i) the identity of the foreign law en15 forcement agency to which the report was 

16 forwarded; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the report was 

18 forwarded. 

19 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION OF INABILITY TO FOR20 WARD REPORT.—If a provider notifies the Drug 

21 Enforcement Administration that the provider 

22 is making a report under this section as the re23 sult of a request by a foreign law enforcement 

24 agency and the Drug Enforcement Administra25 tion is unable to forward the report as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Sep 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4858.IS S4858

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1 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii), the Drug En2 forcement Administration shall notify the pro3 vider that the Drug Enforcement Administra4 tion was unable to forward the report. 

5 ‘‘(f) FAILURE TO REPORT.—A provider that know6 ingly and willfully fails to make a report required under 

7 subsection (b)(1) shall be fined— 

8 ‘‘(1) in the case of an initial knowing and will9 ful failure to make a report, not more than 

10 $150,000; and 

11 ‘‘(2) in the case of any second or subsequent 

12 knowing and willful failure to make a report, not 

13 more than $300,000. 

14 ‘‘(g) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY.—Nothing in this sec15 tion shall be construed to require a provider to— 

16 ‘‘(1) monitor any user, subscriber, or customer 

17 of that provider; 

18 ‘‘(2) monitor the content of any communication 

19 of any person described in paragraph (1); or 

20 ‘‘(3) affirmatively search, screen, or scan for 

21 facts or circumstances described in subsections (b) 

22 and (c). 

23 ‘‘(h) CONDITIONS OF DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

24 CONTAINED WITHIN REPORT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), a law enforcement agency that receives a 

3 report under subsection (d) shall not disclose any in4 formation contained in that report. 

5 ‘‘(2) PERMITTED DISCLOSURES BY LAW EN6 FORCEMENT.—A law enforcement agency may dis7 close information in a report received under sub8 section (d)— 

9 ‘‘(A) to an attorney for the government for 

10 use in the performance of the official duties of 

11 that attorney; 

12 ‘‘(B) to such officers and employees of that 

13 law enforcement agency, as may be necessary in 

14 the performance of their investigative and rec15 ordkeeping functions; 

16 ‘‘(C) to such other government personnel 

17 (including personnel of a State or subdivision of 

18 a State) as are determined to be necessary by 

19 an attorney for the government to assist the at20 torney in the performance of the official duties 

21 of the attorney in enforcing Federal criminal 

22 law; 

23 ‘‘(D) if the report discloses a violation of 

24 State criminal law, to an appropriate official of 


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1 a State or subdivision of a State for the pur2 pose of enforcing such State law; 

3 ‘‘(E) to a defendant in a criminal case or 

4 the attorney for that defendant to the extent 

5 the information relates to a criminal charge 

6 pending against that defendant; 

7 ‘‘(F) to a provider if necessary to facilitate 

8 response to legal process issued in connection to 

9 a criminal investigation, prosecution, or post10 conviction remedy relating to that report; and 

11 ‘‘(G) as ordered by a court upon a showing 

12 of good cause and pursuant to any protective 

13 orders or other conditions that the court may 

14 impose. 

15 ‘‘(i) PRESERVATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

17 ‘‘(A) REQUEST TO PRESERVE CON18 TENTS.—For the purposes of this section, a 

19 completed submission by a provider of a report 

20 to the Drug Enforcement Administration under 

21 subsection (b)(1) shall be treated as a request 

22 to preserve the contents provided in the report 

23 for 90 days after the submission to the Drug 

24 Enforcement Administration. 


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1 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION TO USER.—A provider 

2 may not notify a user, subscriber, or customer 

3 of the provider of a preservation request de4 scribed in subparagraph (A) unless— 

5 ‘‘(i) the provider has notified the 

6 Drug Enforcement Administration of its 

7 intent to provide that notice; 

8 ‘‘(ii) 5 business days have elapsed 

9 since the notification under clause (i); and 

10 ‘‘(iii) the Drug Enforcement Adminis11 tration has not obtained a court order for 

12 nondisclosure. 

13 ‘‘(2) PRESERVATION OF COMMINGLED CON14 TENT.—Pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), a provider 

15 shall preserve any data or other digital files that are 

16 reasonably accessible and may provide context or ad17 ditional information about the reported material or 

18 person. 

19 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF PRESERVED MATE20 RIALS.—A provider preserving materials under this 

21 section shall maintain the materials in a secure loca22 tion and take appropriate steps to limit access to the 

23 materials by agents or employees of the service to 

24 that access necessary to comply with the require25 ments of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES NOT AF2 FECTED.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 

3 as replacing, amending, or otherwise interfering with 

4 the authorities and duties under section 2703 of title 

5 18, United States Code.’’. 

6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

7 The table of contents for the Controlled Substances Act 

8 (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the 

9 item relating to section 520 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 521. Reporting requirements of electronic communication service providers and remote computing services for the unlawful sale and 

distribution of controlled substances.’’. 

Æ 


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