[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4204 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4204

 To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide civil liability for 
illegal manufacturers and distributors of controlled substances for the 
         harm caused by the use of those controlled substances.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 14, 1998

  Mr. Latham introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide civil liability for 
illegal manufacturers and distributors of controlled substances for the 
         harm caused by the use of those controlled substances.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Drug Dealer Liability Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION FOR DRUG DEALER LIABILITY.

    (a) In General.--Part E of the Controlled Substances Act is amended 
by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 521. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION FOR DRUG DEALER LIABILITY.

    ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), any person 
who manufactures or distributes a controlled substance in violation of 
this title or title III shall be liable in a civil action to any party 
harmed, directly or indirectly, by the use of that controlled 
substance.
    ``(b) Exception.--An individual user of a controlled substance may 
not bring an or maintain an action under this section unless all of the 
following conditions are met:
            ``(1) The individual personally discloses to narcotics 
        enforcement authorities all of the information known to the 
        individual regarding all that individual's sources of illegal 
        controlled substances.
            ``(2) The individual has not used an illegal controlled 
        substance within the 30 days before filing the action.
            ``(3) The individual continues to remain free of the use of 
        an illegal controlled substance throughout the pendency of the 
        action.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for the 
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 is amended 
by inserting after the time relating to section 520 the following new 
item:

``Sec. 521. Federal cause of action for drug dealer liability.''.
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