FAMILIES ALLOWED TO SLAP DRUG DEALERS WITH LAWSUITS

Imagine this: A drug dealer gets your child hooked, and the police can't
make criminal charges stick. The dealer is a free man, riding around the
neighborhood in his expensive car.

Starting tomorrow, Virginia families will have a new weapon in this war:
the big-dollar lawsuit.

A new state law allows families to sue drug dealers who prey on their
children, and it could send dealers into a legal scenario similar to what
happened to retired football star O.J. Simpson.

In 1994, Simpson was cleared of criminal charges in the death of his former
wife. But he ended up on the wrong end of a civil lawsuit and was ordered
to pay $8.5 million in damages.

Del. H. Morgan Griffith sponsored the Virginia law. He credits a former
state attorney general and gubernatorial candidate, Mark L. Earley, with
recommending it.

Griffith said the law might not be effective in every case. "Some drug
dealers will have money, some don't," he said. "But if they have money, you
ought to be able to sue for damages."

The bill allows a parent or legal guardian of a child younger than 18 to
sue anyone who provides illegal drugs for that child. The parents can sue
to recover the cost of drug treatment and rehabilitation, along with
emotional pain and suffering.