Drug Dealer Liability Act

The act establishes a private civil cause of action arising out of the illegal drug market, permitting damages suits both by the individual drug user and by other people injured as a consequence of that use, while limiting the reach of the claim by shielding certain third parties and making the cause of action nonassignable. Recoverable liability is scaled to the level of the underlying drug offense, and exemplary damages are available in addition to compensatory relief. The remainder of the act supplies the litigation framework: standards for proving liability, available defenses and exclusions, joinder of related claims, comparative fault and contribution among joint tortfeasors, the period within which suit must be filed, attachment to secure a defendant's assets pending judgment, a stay where a governmental entity has a competing interest in the underlying conduct, and treatment of suits between spouses.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.