MinnPost tells the story of how one bereaved mom got Congresswoman Angie Craig interested and involved with getting rid of illicit drug sales on social media platforms…

Devin was Bridgette Norring’s middle child and oldest son. Beyond his interest in music, she said, “He was very athletic. He was into football, BMX, skateboarding. He was really good at math. He could rattle off the answers to the most complicated equations.” The Hastings teen also had a light-hearted side, she added: “He had a really quick-witted sense of humor. He was always trying to make someone laugh.”

On April 3, 2020, struggling with debilitating pain from blackout migraines and a cracked molar, Devin, desperate for relief after his doctor and dentist appointments had been canceled due to the pandemic, purchased a pill he thought was the pain reliever Percocet from a pair of local dealers who sold drugs on the social media platform Snapchat. It turned out that the pressed pill Devin took was not Percocet. It was actually 100% Fentanyl. He overdosed and was found dead in his bedroom the next morning. He was 19.

Norring connected with Craig…

Eventually, Craig invited Norring to join her Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Advisory Council. “Of course I accepted,” Norring said. “It is a wonderful way to get our voices heard.”

This year, inspired by Devin’s story, Craig, with the support of Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, began work on the Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that would require social media companies and other communication service providers to alert federal law enforcement when illicit drug dealing and distribution occurs on their platforms. The act is named for Devin, and for Cooper Davis, a Shawnee, Kansas, teen who died of fentanyl poisoning after purchasing a counterfeit Percocet pill on Snapchat.

Craig said that, if passed, the legislation would hold social media companies accountable for the illegal sale of drugs on their platforms.

“Social media platforms are required to inform law enforcement in incidents of child sexual abuse on their platforms, but there are no consequences when they learn of these illicit drugs being sold on their platforms,” she said. “It’s surprising that there isn’t already the requirement.”