The Pantagraph - 2000 (reprinted on web site with permission) - Bloomington, Illinois - Wednesday, November 1, 2000 - Suing Drug Dealers Looks Like Good Idea, But Can It Work?

If McDonald’s restaurants can be sued because a hot pickle fell off a hamburger onto a patron’s chin, then drug dealers should be subject to lawsuits for harm caused by the illegal drugs they sell.

That’s what H.R. 1042 would do. It would permit federal civil suits against producers and sellers of illegal drugs by those they harm.

The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, was approved by the House earlier this month.

Under the federal Drug Dealer Liability Act, anyone harmed – directly or indirectly- by illegal drugs could sue the producers or sellers of the drugs that caused the harm.

Plaintiffs could include parents, health-care providers, employers who incurred losses because of a worker’s drug use or governmental units. Individuals drug users also could sue, but only if they provide information to police abut drug sources.

At least 12 states have similar laws, including Illinois. The Illinois law is broader that the proposed federal law. The state law does not require proof of a direct link between the drug user and the drug trafficker.

The Illinois Legislature sees it this way: Illegal drug traffickers are “interrelated and interdependent,” therefore, they are liable for harm caused by drugs distributed within their “illegal drug market.”

The Illinois law took effect Jan. 1, 1996. A spokesman fro the Illinois attorney general’s office was unaware of any civil suit filed under the law.

However, a lawsuit in Michigan resulted in a judgment of $1 million for a baby who was harmed by a drug-abusing mother and more that $7 million to the City of Detroit for drug treatment expenses for jail inmates.

Unfortunately, getting a judgment against a drug trafficker and collecting the money are different things.

If this law can fill the gaps between criminal responsibility, forfeiture laws and civil liability, it is worth trying.

If it can provide an avenue for victims – whether they are parents of a drug-addicted teen or cities caring for drug-addicted inmates – to make drug traffickers pay for the problems they cause, it is worth trying.

By enacting the law, at least it will be on the books when the right case comes along to put the measure to best use.