A former addict has opened a new front in the war on illegal drugs by successfully suing her dealer for selling her crystal methamphetamine that almost killed her.

Sandra Bergen, 23, won her case against a former nursery-school friend who sold her the highly addictive drug, triggering a heart attack that left her in a coma for 11 days.

The ground-breaking suit exposes drug-dealers to legal jeopardy not just from the often-overburdened police but also from their customers, who can easily identify them.

“It’s bigger than me and it’s bigger than this guy,” Ms Bergen told Canada’s CTV.

“I think it’s a different way to hit drug dealers financially, and that is where it would really hurt them.

“I have gotten sober. I think that’s taking responsibility for my actions. I don’t think I should have to take responsibility for both of our actions. I think he should meet me half way. That’s what this lawsuit is about,” she said.

Calvina Fay, director of the Drug Free America Foundation, suggested the case could offer a new avenue to pursue drug dealers. “This obviously sets a precedent, but it also makes the public aware of this whole concept. It’s a way of holding drug dealers responsible for their actions,” she said.

Ms Bergen, from Biggar, Saskatchewan, in Canada alleges that her nursery-school classmate Clinton Davey got her addicted to crystal methamphetamine by offering her a free dose when she was only 13 years old.

She said she was drug-free for eight months before she met him at a friend’s house shortly before her 20th birthday in 2004.

“Prior to taking the drug, I was very nervous because I had to appear in a sexual assault trial where I was the victim. So I was having a bad day, you might say,” she said.

“Usually what he does is he offers you some for free because he knows you are addicted. Once you have some, he offers to sell you some.

“He told me to go over to his grandmother’s house. That’s where I went. We did drugs together there. Then I got him money for the drugs... We smoked some. Then I had symptoms of a heart attack.”

Ms Bergen, who maintains an anti-drug website and speaks to schoolchildren on the perils of illegal drugs, complained that the police showed little interest in pursuing Mr Davey.

“With the criminal justice system, there wasn’t much of an investigation. Me and my family were very frustrated so we found a different way to hold him responsible through the civil justice system,” he said.

In her legal claim, Ms Bergen said Mr Davey knew the drug was highly addictive and the sale of the drug was “for the purpose of making money but was also for the purpose of intentionally inflicting physical and mental suffering on Sandra”. She also named as a defendant the unknown supplier, named only as “John Doe”, from whom Mr Davey got the crystal methamphetamine.

Mr Davey filed a defence statement denying all the allegations and insisting that Ms Bergen “did assume the risk to her person when she voluntarily ingested the illegal drugs”.

But Mr Davey stopped contesting the lawsuit when he was ordered to name his supplier, “John Doe”, during pre-trail discovery. He refused to do so, putting him at risk of a contempt-of-court charge. The judge then entered a default judgment against him.

Damages will be decided at a future hearing. Ms Bergen is claiming $50,000. “I don’t really expect to gain much financially,” she said.

“But I do know of one family that’s awaiting the verdict on this case so they can go ahead with a similar one and find a lawyer to take it on.”

Ms Fay of Drug Free America noted that some US states had introduced “Drug Dealer Liability Acts” allowing drug-users and their families to sue suppliers. But few cases have been brought so far.

Gwen Landolt, a lawyer and vice-president of the Drug Prevention Network of Canada, said such lawsuits would be useful in reining in the drug trade. But she said the case hinged on an unusual set of facts and voiced scepticism that courts would routinely hold dealers responsible for drug-taking by users.

“It could be very useful that there would be criminal and personal liability,” she said. “But it’s not the normal set of facts.”

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