A new approach...

[DryCreek]

Here's a novel approach to the war on drugs.

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/toronto/info/story.html?id=285e026b-5933-4985-b5b8-4dc4fc9fba16&k=68261

Family suing accused dealer who sold daughter meth


Betty Ann Adam , CanWest News Service; Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2007
SASKATOON - The family of a woman who is suing her alleged drug dealer for failing to help her after she overdosed on crystal meth wants to take the profit out of selling deadly drugs.

"It comes down to selling a substance that can kill people, to getting rid of the drug and trying to make it so it's not profitable for them to sell it," said Georgina Bergen.

Her daughter, Sandra Bergen, suffered a heart attack in 2004 after using methamphetamine she claims she obtained from Clinton Davey.

Sandra Bergen and her parents, Stan and Georgina Bergen have filed suit against Clinton Davey and his mother, Dalis Davey, who is named in the suit because the overdose allegedly happened at her house. It continues Dec. 6 when a Queen's Bench justice will consider the Bergens' motion to find Davey in contempt of court.

The Bergens claim Davey refused to answer questions during sworn testimony about the night Bergen took so much of the drug, she ended up in hospital with a heart attack, kidney and liver failure.

In documents filed at Queen's Bench, the Bergens claim Davey claimed not to remember certain things about the early morning of May 5, 2004, even though his answers to certain other questions show he remembered many details from the occasion.

The Bergens also are asking that Davey's statement of defence be struck out.

Claims in the civil suit have not been proven in court.

Davey and Dalis Davey could not be reached for comment Monday.

At least one other family of a person who overdosed on meth is watching the case before deciding whether to bring a similar suit, Georgina Bergen said Monday.

"It will be precedent-setting if we do win," she said. "No one's ever sued a drug dealer before."

The Bergens sued to recover medical costs on behalf of the province, as well as their own out-of-pocket expenses and general damages in excess of $50,000.

Sandra Bergen has recovered almost completely, but there are some lasting medical problems as a result of the overdose and subsequent heart attack and coma, her mother said.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Badam@sp.canwest.com




© CanWest News Service 2007

[SMOKIN HEMI]

Wow, I dont know how I feel about that. I have to think about that one..

[Old Timer]

I have a better solution to all the wrongs like this a mandatory death sentence,and not no lethal injection either. i am talking either string em up,beat em to death or let them face the firing squad. and this goes for all drug dealers,child predators,rapists,murders anyone who commits bad things such as these crimes.

[jman11]

did the girl who OD want to do the drugs? did the dealer force her to do it?
most likley if this dealer didnt sell it to her, she would have gone to another one, or resorted to other options to "get high".

The only reason that the dealer should be getting sued would be if he sold her bunk shit ( anything harmful, not what was asked for)

If the meth was "normal" and she just OD'd because of a lack of self control or just pure ignorance, then i feel that it should stop there, Darwins law in action

Now dont get me wrong, I feel the dealer (all) of this horrible drug should be locked up and throw away the key,

As long as the users dont get in my way and no crime is done against my community, myself, or neigbors, LET THEM DO IT
anyone stupid enough to smoke that shit SHOULD be all cracked out and helpless

All that out of the way, i feel people should take responsiblity for themselves. If you drive a ford off a bridge, ITS YOUR FAULT, and you cant go about suing Ford when your dumbass made a stupid move, however if Ford failed to apply the brake pads on the rotors and that was the cause for the crash, then it would be Fords fault

JMHO


JMHO

[coolhandjean]

War on Drugs = Dumb Idea...
If prohibition didn't work, what makes them think making drugs illegal would work? Idiots....
Anyway, I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Few take responsibility for their own actions anymore. "I'm fat. Sue McD's" syndrome*sp*.

[LuvinBullies]

This sue-happy country of ours. Grrrrr.

I don't really know what I think is suitable punishment for a drug dealer. I think big monetary fines are really as far as it could go to deter them though, because jail doesn't work and you can't go blame shifting when you are a drug user. You smoked the dope...if not from that particular dealer then from another. Can't go suing paint stores when idiots get hooked on paint huffing now can we? Next who do we sue- Jack Daniels??????? Give me an effin break.
It's the slippery slope- If you fall off a stepladder with your goofy ass don't try to sue the store you bought it from (of course a careless manufacturing defect is different), don't sue McDonalds because you can't keep their coffee out of your crotch, don't hate on the owner of a restaurant -or the guy who tried to save your butt- because you can't chew properly and choked and the guy performing the heimlech maneuver accidently cracked your rib. And don't sue the dope dealer if you are a junkie. The list could go on. The reason this country is in this mess is because nobody takes responsibility for themselves. The law is a joke and until the justice system gets its head out of its collective butt and stops hearing bullcrap cases things will only get worse. Once a precedence is set anywhere by a stupid lawsuit then it can become interpreted as law and the stupid sickness spreads. What's worse: Frivolous lawsuits like these exist and take time and manpower away from real court cases -like murders and child molesters- and dangerous criminals are getting off on technicalities resulting from inept lawyership and policework, or walking the streets for years out on bond waiting for their case to roll around. Not only that- then in prison a child molester gets released early due to overcrowding to make room for someone caught with a field of pot plants or a guy transporting bulldogs. A guy who raped two teenage girls got out of prison this week after serving only 10 stinkin years meanwhile a man in Dothan Alabama got an 102 year sentence on dogfighting charges!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's awful, the justice system is awful. :(

[Old Timer]

War on Drugs = Dumb Idea...
If prohibition didn't work, what makes them think making drugs illegal would work? Idiots....
Anyway, I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Few take responsibility for their own actions anymore. "I'm fat. Sue McD's" syndrome*sp*.Yeah but your dealing with 2 completely diffrent things though,your not going to be in the same shape as a junkie if you drink a beer or have a glass of whiskey. now i really don't agree with drinking either,but as a former ridgerunner and whiskey maker i can tell you there is a big diffrence between a drink and them drugs.

You can't honestly sit there and think making drugs legal is the right thing to do,just think about it for a second. if it is this bad with it being illegal then just imiagine what it would be like if it were legal and they could do it anywhere with no fear of any reprocussions.

The war on drugs is 100% the right thing to do we are already for the most part a nation of junkies lets not make it within their legal rights to be that way. just how would you feel if your son or daughter was a dope fiend and their was nothing you could do about it since it was 100% legal and they were doing nothing wrong.

I say arrest every single dope fiend,throw them in jail till they detox and do it the right way i mean a 10-20 year sentence with no parole,and that will in turn starve the drug dealers and makers and then the law and your average citizens could focus on finding them and eradicating them for good.

[ColbyDogs]

It is a sad day if that happens. Last i checked drug dealers do not hold guns to your head forcing you to take thier drugs. Of coarse its the other kids fault because no ones kid would take drugs on thier own free will ( insert sarcasm here ) It is always someone elses fault. Hell if that passes I am gonna sew the state of Vermont for growing the green buds that my son smokes.

[frenchie1936]

i personally don't think throwing someone in jail for twenty years because they have an addiction is something i could justify supporting. i'm sure members of this board have dealt with it before, but should they have been thrown away for ten or twenty years? i know a guy that carjacked someone and got off with a two year sentence. wtf? talk about ass backwards. if someone wants to ruin themselves then so be it. so long as their activities don't impede on other people's rights, who cares what they do. murders and peole being raped are all you hear about on the news anymore. and yet they recieve mediocre sentences, comparitively. even armed robbers recieve lighter sentences. and why? because a large portion of people incarcerated for narcotics possession are non-violent offenders that could live among society without ever hurting anyone. now, some more illicit drugs i disagree with and think there should be some penalty for. what about down here in broward county FL? there have been four sheriffs deputies shot in the last four months. three of which died. they haven't the slightest idea who was responsible for killing one of them. the guy is out there and he has already showed his propensity towards violence and his willingness to use deadly force. no, i dont agree with sentencing "dope fiends" to jail for non-violent offenses.

[elgin64]

For real, I don't think its a good idea. I have family members that do have drug promlems, two that recentlly OD( crack/painkillers) but, as much as I'd love to whip the s@#$ out of their dealers, I can't. Why run around blaming everyone else for their problems. They'll never be able to take care of themself if they are never at fault for their actions.

[SMOKIN HEMI]

Again I dont know how I feel about this because no one forced that meth in her mouth. She was willing to do that is something that she has to deal with. Alchol IS the same thing. The reason why I say that is it like drugs effect people differently. When I was growing up me and my mom there was a guy that we knew that would get drunk and beat his wife. Everyone knew he was a drunk but people still would serve him alcohol. He would come home a beat his wife unmericfull it was sad. I have seen him do it several time. He is dead now his wife finally got him back but the point is alcohol to him was as devastating as any drug. It led to the same doom. Now as a Former pot dealer and former herb smoker I am glad that I wasnt strung up. People can change, I am nothing like I used to be. I totally aviod confrontation, it is not even worth it. I have children and a wife and it took me a little while to get my life together and I did.

Back to the point, I just dont feel like that is the right approach. It is not going to stop. To be effective you need to try to help the indivual that has the drug problem. JIMO

[coolhandjean]

Yeah but your dealing with 2 completely diffrent things though,your not going to be in the same shape as a junkie if you drink a beer or have a glass of whiskey. now i really don't agree with drinking either,but as a former ridgerunner and whiskey maker i can tell you there is a big diffrence between a drink and them drugs.

You can't honestly sit there and think making drugs legal is the right thing to do,just think about it for a second. if it is this bad with it being illegal then just imiagine what it would be like if it were legal and they could do it anywhere with no fear of any reprocussions.

The war on drugs is 100% the right thing to do we are already for the most part a nation of junkies lets not make it within their legal rights to be that way. just how would you feel if your son or daughter was a dope fiend and their was nothing you could do about it since it was 100% legal and they were doing nothing wrong.

I say arrest every single dope fiend,throw them in jail till they detox and do it the right way i mean a 10-20 year sentence with no parole,and that will in turn starve the drug dealers and makers and then the law and your average citizens could focus on finding them and eradicating them for good.I disagree. I have many recovering alcoholics in my family, and I know for fact how dangerous Alcohol can make a person. Yes, there are some hardcore drugs that wouldn't compare to alcohol, I'd agree, but MJ is less dangerous and less addictive than Alcohol and Cigarettes. Don't get me wrong, I don't smoke MJ, and I'll have a beer from time to time. So, it's not like I am defending it, because I do it. I don't, and I wouldn't even if it was legal...
To me making drugs illegal is just like outlawing alcohol or guns, if you take them away, people will still get to it. Also, it gives it an Appeal. A kind of "If I do drugs, I'll be against the establishment" kind of mentality. Let's face it, if people are going to do drugs, they will do it whether they are legal or not...
It might be the Liberatarian in me, but if they doing their drugs in their own home, and not hurting anyone/infringing on anyone's rights, then they have the right to do whatever they want to themselves. If they are hurting someone else, then the Law would be allowed to step in, obviously. People wouldn't break into other people's houses (as much), because the prices wouldn't be as incredibly high...
As for the 20 years in jail, they find ways to get drugs in jail, so even that doesn't stop them from doing it. Also, if someone doesn't want to change, they aren't going to, even if you send them to rehab/jail/etc. That person has to decide, "hey I don't want this. I want to change." Then and only then, will they get on the path to recovery. You can't force someone to change. Again, I learn that from people in my family...
If we legalized drugs, the state govts. could regulate them and make money off of them, like they do with alcohol. If we legalized them, then our jails wouldn't be so over crowded. We'd have room for the real criminals...
Also, if we legalized drugs, it would take the Drug Lords out of the picture, the war on drugs has created gangs/Drug Lords, like Prohibition helped with the rise of the mobs and people like Al Capone...
My son/daughter could be a dope fiend now with drugs being illegal. There would still be Drug Rehab centers like there is Alcohol Rehab centers...
I think the govt. has taken too many liberties in deciding on whether I know what is right or wrong for myself. If I want to screw myself up, and do any drug (alcohol, cigarettes, etc.), it's my body. As long as I am not hurting or interfering with someone else's rights, I should have the right to do so, even if it's a poor decision. If I don't want to wear a seat belt and I get in an accident and die, that is my poor choice. I don't need the govt. to be a mother/father figure telling me what to do or not to do...Just my opinion, though.

[WWII]

Here's a radical approach on the subject of War on Drugs...





















Don't have one!!! Actively searching and prosecuting non-violent crimes is a waste of money. Now, if someone is a crack-head and out hurting other people and/or stealing and what not, prosecute them. If someone has a dime sack and is smoking in privacy, let it be. I don't even smoke and I'm totally for legalizing certain drugs.

[chinasmom]

I have a better solution to all the wrongs like this a mandatory death sentence,and not no lethal injection either. i am talking either string em up,beat em to death or let them face the firing squad. and this goes for all drug dealers,child predators,rapists,murders anyone who commits bad things such as these crimes.
You got my vote there. Prison overcrowding, having to let non-violent offenders out to make more room. If they would kill the ones on death row, there would be no overcrowding. The law imo, just let appeals drag on and on. Used to be you had a trial, found guilty and were sentenced. End of story. Now tax payers have the pleasure of feeding the same ones that have done something horible to them and their families. You would think BSL would be on the very back burner with everything they need to be addressing getting so out of hand. Not really aimed at the op, but I just get so tired of all the crime and nothing being done about it and they want me to neuter my animals, pay taxes on them, and keep them out of public veiw. The case at hand, we don't really know what happened so I don't know what to say there except make the rope you toke legal. For far worse crimes on drugs, who's really at fault? You tell me to jump off a ledge and I do it, oh well. You tell me to jump and I "Just say no,".... No one makes you an addict. That's personal choice. Alchohol is legal, but not everyone drinks it just because they can.

[LuvinBullies]

Yeah but your dealing with 2 completely diffrent things though,your not going to be in the same shape as a junkie if you drink a beer or have a glass of whiskey. now i really don't agree with drinking either,but as a former ridgerunner and whiskey maker i can tell you there is a big diffrence between a drink and them drugs.

You can't honestly sit there and think making drugs legal is the right thing to do,just think about it for a second. if it is this bad with it being illegal then just imiagine what it would be like if it were legal and they could do it anywhere with no fear of any reprocussions.

The war on drugs is 100% the right thing to do we are already for the most part a nation of junkies lets not make it within their legal rights to be that way. just how would you feel if your son or daughter was a dope fiend and their was nothing you could do about it since it was 100% legal and they were doing nothing wrong.

I say arrest every single dope fiend,throw them in jail till they detox and do it the right way i mean a 10-20 year sentence with no parole,and that will in turn starve the drug dealers and makers and then the law and your average citizens could focus on finding them and eradicating them for good. A slackjawed alcoholic is hands down the most pathetic substance abuser I've ever seen. And I've seen plenty. People grow up in the USA knowing alcohol is legal -but not until they are 21- so what happens the second most college kids turn 21? All that anticipation and WAMMO! Big "fun", DUI's and STDs. Perhaps if so much anticipation wasn't there it wouldn't be such a big deal- say kill the legal age altogether and if a family sees to it to have a glass of wine with dinner, let the teenagers have one if they want. Kids are going to drink anyway, so take the anticipation away and its no big deal. Kids grow up learning how to be social drinkers if they so choose. If a family isn't big on drinking neither will the children because they see their parents CHOOSE not to do it- they were never told by society at large they had to wait until the clock struck twelve.
Drugs are the same way. If people grew up seeing the occasional blasted out junkie walking down the street- no way would they want to grow up to be like that. Tell a country they can't have Pit Bulls now every single low life just gots ta have one. Look in a couple of decades and we will see a lot less obese people ya know why? We see how disgusting it is when people gorge themselves and now everywhere you look there's the "healthy choice" selection. If being obese was outlawed in this country (after all it's compared all the time to drug and alcohol addiction) we'd have millions of government dollars spent trying to keep those fat folks under control- when in fact if you just chill out and let the dust settle on its own people will eventually make the right choices. Alcohol is legal- but it's regulated. The regulation itself causes some problems (like such a high legal age) but some other regulations such as not drinking and driving are obviously necessary. It all goes back to common sense. If drugs were legal -but regulated- the Just Say No! campaign wouldn't have had me wondering at the age of 5 what all this drug hubbub was about. Saturday morning cartoons were plagued with commercial images of kids being approached by Gargamel dope pusher- causing a heightened curiosity. A much better deterrent would be uncle Bob pissing himself at the family reunion.

Just my opinion. I'm no lobbyist for drug legalization, just for giving a little decision making back to the damn people. ;)

[DryCreek]

Just for clarification purposes...

suing her alleged drug dealer for failing to help her after she overdosed on crystal meth
They're not suing him for supplying her, but for not helping her when she OD'd.

War on Drugs = Dumb Idea...
If prohibition didn't work, what makes them think making drugs illegal would work? Idiots....

It's a good political platform for them to lull the masses with tho eh? ;)

If we legalized drugs, the state govts. could regulate them and make money off of them, like they do with alcohol. If we legalized them, then our jails wouldn't be so over crowded. We'd have room for the real criminals...
Also, if we legalized drugs, it would take the Drug Lords out of the picture, the war on drugs has created gangs/Drug Lords, like Prohibition helped with the rise of the mobs and people like Al Capone...

Good point! For every thing they make illegal (drugs, dogs, guns, etc...) they create more criminals.

There have been people seeking drugs for pleasure/relief etc since the days of laudanum and even before that I'm sure. All the dealers do is supply what people want. You need to help the individual, not punish the supplier as they will only be replaced by the next dealer. As long as people seek out drugs there will be people taking care of their needs.

If they took all the money being used by the police forces, the courts, the government etc in this war, and put that towards education and rehab facilities, the demand would slowly fall off as people became rehabbed and educated. There is NO quick fix for this, it takes time and dedication.

Could you even imagine the amount of money the governments could make on the legalization and controlled sale (like alcohol) of marijuana alone? Plus the money saved by the government by not paying for these dealers to have 3 squares and a bed! Can you say no more national deficit?

And yes, there would still be dealers around, just as there are people who supply alcohol and cigarettes for those not wanting to pay the taxes on them. ;)

Would not removing the crime also help remove the violence?

[jman11]

Could you even imagine the amount of money the governments could make on the legalization and controlled sale (like alcohol) of marijuana alone? Plus the money saved by the government by not paying for these dealers to have 3 squares and a bed! Can you say no more national deficit?
the CA government is making a KILLING off taxes from medical marijuana

[coolhandjean]

the CA government is making a KILLING off taxes from medical marijuanaThe main reason the Fed. Govt. isn't legalizing drugs such as marijuana has nothing to do with whether it's "dangerous" or not, it is because they currently are making money off of it, but I'd rather see it legalized and get the State Govt. to obtain that money, for sure, like you said CA currently is...
I think laugh so hard when people believe Natural marijuana (not that mixed stuff) is more "dangerous" than tabacco or alcohol. In the 70s, when my boyfriend would go to concerts, the security guards wouldn't bug the "potheads" because they knew they wouldn't have problems with them, but they would stay super close to the people drinking alcohol. You are more likely to commit a violent crime while intoxicated on alcohol than you are with MJ, but people listen to everything the Fed. Govt. tells them and take it as fact, which we all know for fact, because otherwise our dogs wouldn't be in such danger...
Oh, which makes me think of another point, MJ and some other drugs wouldn't be as "dangerous" if they were legalized, because it would be tested to make sure it wasn't just a mixture of whatever the guy found in his garage and tried to sell to the consumer...

[DryCreek]

In the 70s, when my boyfriend would go to concerts, the security guards wouldn't bug the "potheads" because they knew they wouldn't have problems with them, but they would stay super close to the people drinking alcohol. You are more likely to commit a violent crime while intoxicated on alcohol than you are with MJ
The secuity guards at concerts still do the same thing now LOL.

I was a waitress in a small restaurant in a small town at one time and I totally agree with the security guards on this. I would much rather serve a table full of pot heads than a table full of drunks. Believe you me, I had many opportunities to do both in this job LOL. One table is full of passive, friendly, smiling people having conversations, while the other table was full of loud, aggressive and sometimes extremely emotional people. The pot heads were respectful yet the drunks overstepped their boundries many a time.

(Why is it that men who drink tend to think a waitress is fair game for their attentions anyways? It's not flattering in the least!)

That was a good point about the regulation of product that legalization would have coolhandjean. There are programs in Canada where they are dispensing clean needles for users in the hopes of reducing the spread of I.V. transferable diseases such as Aids and Hep etc..

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti alcohol. I enjoy a few now and then lol but there seems to be a magic number of drinks that some/a lot of people can have and then wham, they hit the drink myself stupid idiot mode. All pot heads do if they smoke to much grass is eat and go to sleep LOL.

[frenchie1936]

all kinds of people these days go to shrinks for various forms of anxiety, stress, and depression. all of these things have been proven to be alleviated by medicinal use of marijuana. (look up the scripps research institute). i'll tell you what too, i use to be a little more high strung and it always seemed like i was itchin for a fight. but hooked on chronic worked for me and it can work for you too! well, it's not for everyone i guess...... but the point is still there that if consumed properly, there are NO negative side effects of having a nugget once in a while. or two :)

[SMOKIN HEMI]

all kinds of people these days go to shrinks for various forms of anxiety, stress, and depression. all of these things have been proven to be alleviated by medicinal use of marijuana. (look up the scripps research institute). i'll tell you what too, i use to be a little more high strung and it always seemed like i was itchin for a fight. but hooked on chronic worked for me and it can work for you too! well, it's not for everyone i guess...... but the point is still there that if consumed properly, there are NO negative side effects of having a nugget once in a while. or two :)

HA!!!!! I agree. Most countries that marijuana is legal have very little issues with marijuana. I do believe that there crime rate is less than this country.

[LuvinBullies]

all kinds of people these days go to shrinks for various forms of anxiety, stress, and depression. all of these things have been proven to be alleviated by medicinal use of marijuana. (look up the scripps research institute). i'll tell you what too, i use to be a little more high strung and it always seemed like i was itchin for a fight. but hooked on chronic worked for me and it can work for you too! well, it's not for everyone i guess...... but the point is still there that if consumed properly, there are NO negative side effects of having a nugget once in a while. or two :)A better argument for dope smoking is simply because you feel like it, it grows naturally and its your doggone body. Pot's only real perk is it makes you feel euphoric for a period then you tend to sleep to offset the high, so the only type person I can think of who may reap these benefits are people who are in chronic pain or those with terminal illnesses.
I'm never an advocate for medicating social disorders- by prescription, medical marijuana or otherwise. Except for the few true mental cases, I'm a firm believer that we came into this world with all the necessary chemicals in our bodies to combat any mental state or social disorder naturally. It's just a matter of making the conscience decision to engage and make it happen. Anxiety, stress and depression are not diseases of any sort (Docs and medical journals can document all day long it doesn't make it fact- they want you to think social disorders are bonafide diseases because the more diseases there are on paper, the more money they make trying to "cure" them.). Anxiety, etc. are very real feelings with a very real cure, but no doctor can give it to you. It's all a matter of deciding not to let feelings and emotions control you, then working hard to change it. It's a simple explanation but it's not so simple to do- so instead people pop a pill, smoke a doobie or drink a beer for the easy quicker fixer upper. The downside is now you are programmed into thinking you "need" something when all you have to do is turn on your strong will you were born with. While I'm griping ADD and ADHD is a crock too. Parents have to physically show their children how to concentrate and problem solve -which parents these days no longer take the time to do- resulting in this new wave of socially inept children who are mistakenly diagnosed as having a "disease".

Just my 2 cents again. I just think people as a general rule need to give themselves more credit as to what they are capable of, step up a bit and not rely on anyone else's analysis or a substance to make them better. ;)