COCAINE ADDICT SUING ALLEGED DEALERS

VANCOUVER (CP) - A man who became a slave to crack cocaine is suing
his alleged dealers, claiming they "owed a duty of care" to their
customers and should have known their activities could cause harm.

The case also involves the RCMP and claims of payouts to the
defendants of almost half a million dollars, according to the
plaintiff's statement of claim.

Jay Martin says in his claim, filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Nelson,
B.C., that the RCMP arrested and charged the defendants with cocaine
trafficking in 1998.

Police then withdrew the charge and paid them more than $440,000 as a
tradeoff for information about a marijuana growing operation, Martin's
statement says.

An officer with the RCMP's drug section in Kelowna refused Wednesday
to discuss the matter.

"The whole case is before the courts and we're not in a position to
comment on that until it's been dealt with by the courts," said Staff
Sgt. Glen Richdale.

Martin filed his statement of claim late last month, setting out a
long list of allegations against defendants Dennis Dober and his wife
Lois Judith Dober.

The Dobers were not available for comment Wednesday and have not yet
filed a statement of defence. All the allegations against them now
must be supported in court.

Now a 30-year-old who says he is still addicted but under "reasonable
control," Martin claims to have been a crack cocaine customer of the
defendants for the last 11 years.

Their seller-buyer relationship ended in 1999, he says.

Martin, who is seeking unspecified damages, makes several claims in
his court statement, including that the defendants should have shown
more care for their drug-buying customers.

"The defendants owed a duty of care to their customers and
specifically to the plaintiffs, who were persons they might reasonably
have known to be affected by their actions in carrying on their
illegal business," the statement says.

Martin also claims the defendants knew he was addicted to crack "and
could not exercise free will in regard to his cocaine consumption choices."

Kieran Bridge, a spokesman on civil litigation for the B.C. branch of
the Canadian Bar Association, said Wednesday he had never heard of a
case exactly like it before.

"The closest I've ever heard is someone who once claimed he was
addicted to gambling and wanted me to sue the government for allowing
casinos," said Bridge, who advised the potential client against the
suit.

The plaintiff in the cocaine case is likely to have to deal with the
legal principle of voluntary risk, he said.

"The only thing he (Martin) will probably face in the defence is the
principle that if you voluntarily undertake some risk, you can't
complain if you get hurt as a result," said Bridge.

"It's pretty hard for any adult to say, 'I didn't realize crack was
dangerous or addictive.' "

But Bridge also said the lawsuit is in some ways similar to the many
cases now before courts all over the world involving cigarette smokers
suing tobacco manufacturers.

Tobacco manufacturers claim people have known for years that
cigarettes are dangerous, said Bridge.

"But crack goes one step further. Everybody knows crack is going to
badly injure you and be highly addictive."

Still, the two are analogous to some extent regarding negligence, he
said.

"There's not a contractual relationship (with cigarettes) because
tobacco manufacturers don't sell to smokers," said Bridge.

"You buy them from grocery store so that's a claim in negligence, not
in contract.

"Here, there is a contract to sell crack and buy it, but there's also
possibly a negligence claim."

Despite the legal hurdles of proving his case, Bridge figures Martin
might as well give it his best shot.

"If people are suing cigarette manufacturers, why not sue drug
pushers?"

In his statement of claim, the Martin paints a pathetic self-portrait,
alleging that Dennis Dober introduced him to crack cocaine and taught
him prepare the drug for nasal ingestion.

Martin claims he has suffered pain and physical deterioration due to
"binges of crack use, poor nutrition and lack of sleep."

The addiction had left him chronically penniless, he says, "through
the payout of virtually his entire financial income to the defendants
. . .resulting in inability to maintain work, to pay rent, to buy food
for himself and his partner and children."