How many times have we heard this story? A "friend" supplies a vulnerable young person with drugs until she's addicted. He makes money hand over fist from her compulsion, until an overdose sends her into a coma. Sad, but all too common these days.
Only this story has a twist: the addict recovered from her coma, and sued her dealer's sorry ass.
Sandra Bergen, now 23, accused childhood acquaintance Clinton Davey of selling her crystal meth - which he knew was highly addictive - not only to make money but to cause her "physical and mental suffering."
Davey tried to argue that Bergen had taken the drugs of her own volition, but because he wouldn't name his supplier, the Saskatchewan judge disallowed the defense, and Bergen won the case. Although an award has not yet been determined, she is asking for $50,000.
I don't know if there are differences between the Canadian and American justice systems that would prevent this from working here, but I would love to see the broken-down victims of drug addiction walking into court and stripping their dealers of their tricked-out SUVs, their bling - maybe their stock portfolios, for all I know about what drug dealers do with their money. That's justice, 21st-century style.
