WAnited States Senate WASHINGTON, DC 20610 June 28, 2018, Mr. Sean R. Mitchell Section Chief Congressional Affairs Section Drug Enforcement Administration 175 Morrissette Drive Springfield, VA 22152 Dear Mr, Mitchell; Enclosed please find a follow-up letter we received from Mrs. Deirdre Goldsmith, a Virginia constituent. We appreciate your response dated January 17th, 2018, (attached) to her previous letter, and wwe thank you in advance for your consideration of this latest correspondence. As you will recall, in August 2013, Mrs. Goldsmith's nineteen-year-old daughter, Shelley, passed away from heatstroke. Shelley took the drug MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine), commonly known as Molly or Eestasy, before attending the dance concert where she later passed away. In the wake of her daughter’s tragic death, Mrs. Goldsmith has become an advocate for reforms intended to prevent other young people from using drugs and to lessen the risk of associated facilities. Among these reforms isa desire to improve the safety conditions at concert venues. Mrs. Goldsmith has heard from venue ‘owners that they do not implement certain safety measures because of a fear of prosecution under the Wiicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Aet. She is requesting that the Department of Justice clarify how it interprets the law in the hopes that venue owners will then be able to implement measures to reduce the risk of harm to attendees. In your January 17th, 2018 letter, you clarified interpretation of the law regarding the provision of water to patrons, and Mrs. Goldsmith is now seeking to clarify how DOJ would view the implementation of other safety measures. We appreciate your consideration of the issues raised in her correspondence. Please respond directly to Mrs, Goldsmith and copy our offices on the response. If needed, you may also contact Kristen Molloy in Senator Kaine’s office at Kristen_Molloy:akain ‘or 202-224-4024, or Nicholas Devereux in Senator Wamer’s office at Nicholas Devereux(@iwarner senate,zov o 202-224-2023, ‘Thank you for your assistance and attention to this matter. Sincerely, wry MARKR.WARNER TIMKAINE United States Senator United States Senator[Mr. Sean R. Mitchell Section Chief Congressional Affairs Section U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration Dear Mr. Mitchell,] ‘Thank you for your letter dated January 17, 2018. | am very encouraged to learn that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) shares my concern that concert organizers and venue ‘owners provide appropriate safety measures at their events. Your letter is already a useful tool to share with music industry leaders to help them understand that they are indeed expected to maintain settings that are as safe as possible or their young patrons. Toward that end, it would be very helpful to me if you could expand on your interpretation of appropriate safety measures. At present, there are three other dire situations that put patrons at risk and prevent the venues from being as safe as they should be (besides the issue of a lack of abundant and cheap water that you highlighted in your January 17" letter.) Can you tell m 1) providing cool down spaces, 2) distributing public health information on-site, and 3) expanding the number of trained medical personnel, would be acceptable safety measures under the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act, or would they be viewed as indicators that the venue is a drug-involved premise? Because some venues feel that they are not allowed to provide these common-sense safeguards because they fear prosecution, they continue to be, in my opinion, high-risk and dangerous settings in terms of public safety. Most festivals and concerts take place during the summer season and put patrons at an increased risk of becoming overheated. Indeed, the greatest number of medical emergencies at dance music concerts are due to people suffering from hyperthermia or heat stroke. Please advise if the measures that | listed above would be allowed under the Act as prudent and appropriate safety measures at dance music events. | am delighted that the DEA is as. troubled by this situation as 1am. ‘Thank you again for your help and | look forward to hearing from you soon.as, U. 8. Department of Justice — ‘Drug Enforcement Administration wwwrw.dleee gov Springfield, Virginia 22152 January 17,2018 “The Honorable Mark R. Wamer United States Senate Washingion, DC 20510 JON DT Be BBE The Honorable Tim Kaine United States Senate Washington, DC. 20810 Dear Senator Wamer and Senator Keine: ‘This responds to your letter to the Attorney General dated November 19, 2017, on behstf of Deidre Goldsmith. We apologize for our delay in responding to your fetter. ‘The Drug-Enforcement Administration (DEA) shares Ms, Goldsmith's concer that venue owners not be discouraged from providing appropriate safety measures al entertainment venues. Our review of the Illicit Drag Anti-Proliferation Act, codified at 21 U.S.C, $356, did not identify any provision of the Act that would discourage lav abiding venue owners from inslituling safety measures for its patrons, including the provision of water. ‘The zelevant provisions of Title 21 U.S.C. §856 provide: Except as authorized by this subchapter, it shall be unfawful to~ (1) Knowingly open, lease, rent, use or maintain any place, whether permatrenily or temporarily, for the purpose of manufscturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance; (2) Manage or control any place, whether permanently or temporarily, either ag an owner, fessee, agent, employee, occupant, or mortgagee, and knowingly and intentionally rent, lecse, pralit from,or make available for.use, with or without compensation, the place for the purpose of unlavsfully manuficturing, storing, distributing, or using e controlled substance, Sestion 856 requires that the government prove that ait owner knowingly opened or maintained & place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing or using a controlled substance. A variety of indicators may belp ‘o demonstrute that an offender had the requisite knowledge. These indicators ‘would include conduct inconsistent with reasonable safoty precautions, such as evidence that att event owner deprived patrons of water to obscure knowledge of drug use on the premises, as well as