I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7239 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to enhance the penalties applicable 

with respect to certain violations involving the use of interactive computer 

service to distribute a controlled substance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2024 

Mr. PFLUGER (for himself, Mr. MOYLAN, Mr. BACON, Mrs. STEEL, Mr. 

BAIRD, and Mr. CRENSHAW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to enhance the 

penalties applicable with respect to certain violations involving the use of interactive computer service to distribute a controlled substance, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Drug-Free Social 

5 Media and Digital Communities Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF INTERACTIVE COMPUTER 

2 SERVICE TO DISTRIBUTE A CONTROLLED 

3 SUBSTANCE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Controlled Substances Act is 

5 amended by inserting after section 423 (21 U.S.C. 864) 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 424. DISTRIBUTION THROUGH USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) TERM OF IMPRISONMENT; FINE.—Any 

10 person who violates section 401(a)(1) by distrib11 uting, dispensing, or possessing with intent to dis12 tribute or dispense a controlled substance through 

13 the use of a interactive computer service shall be 

14 subject to— 

15 ‘‘(A) twice the maximum term of imprison16 ment authorized by section 401(b); 

17 ‘‘(B) at least twice any term of supervised 

18 release authorized by section 401(b) for a first 

19 offense; and 

20 ‘‘(C) a fine up to twice that authorized by 

21 section 401(b) in addition to any term of im22 prisonment authorized by this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM SENTENCE.—Except to the ex24 tent a greater minimum sentence is otherwise pro25 vided by section 401(b), a person sentenced under 

26 this subsection shall be sentenced to a term of imVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Feb 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7239.IH H7239

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1 prisonment of not less than 1 year, except that the 

2 mandatory minimum sentencing requirement of this 

3 paragraph shall not apply to offenses involving 5 

4 grams or less of marihuana. 

5 ‘‘(3) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE DE6 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘interactive 

7 computer service’ means any information service, 

8 system, or access software provider that provides or 

9 enables computer access by multiple users to a com10 puter server, including specifically a service or sys11 tem that provides access to the Internet and such 

12 systems operated or services offered by libraries or 

13 educational institutions. 

14 ‘‘(b) SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) TERM OF IMPRISONMENT.—Any person 

16 who commits a violation described in subsection 

17 (a)(1), after a prior conviction for a violation de18 scribed in subsection (a)(1) has become final, is pun19 ishable— 

20 ‘‘(A) by the greater of— 

21 ‘‘(i) a term of imprisonment of not 

22 less than 3 years and not more than life 

23 imprisonment; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) 3 times the maximum term of 

2 imprisonment authorized by section 401(b) 

3 for a first offense; 

4 ‘‘(B) by at least 3 times any term of su5 pervised release authorized by section 401(b) 

6 for a first offense; and 

7 ‘‘(C) by a fine up to 3 times that author8 ized by section 401(b) in addition to any term 

9 of imprisonment authorized by this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM SENTENCE.—Except to the ex11 tent a greater minimum sentence is otherwise pro12 vided by section 401(b), a person sentenced under 

13 this subsection shall be sentenced to a term of im14 prisonment of not less than 3 years, except that pen15 alties for third and subsequent convictions shall be 

16 governed by section 401(b)(1)(A).’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

18 for the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) 

19 is amended by adding after the item relating to section 

20 423 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 424. Distribution through use of social media.’’. 

Æ 


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