Report: Teaneck Parents Sue Drug Dealers in Son's Overdose Death
Drug dealers not yet identified, report says.
The parents of a 21-year-old Teaneck man are suing the unidentified drug dealers they claim sold their son drugs before he died of an overdose three weeks ago, northjersey.com reported Monday.
The dealers, identified only as "John Does," sold Jonathan Roth drugs on Dec. 16, his parents, Ruth and Philip Roth, claimed in a lawsuit, the report said. He died that day after taking a "lethal dosage" of the unspecified narcotics.
Authorities would not comment and the report said the Roth's attorney is still investigating who sold the drugs to their son. The suit was filed in Hackensack Superior Court under New Jersey's Drug Dealer Liability Act.
"Although the criminal justice system is an important weapon in the battle against controlled dangerous substances, the civil justice system can and must also be used. The civil justice system can provide an avenue of compensation for those who have suffered harm as a result of the marketing and distribution of controlled dangerous substances," the act states.
Roth was on leave from Brandeis University, where he was studying economics and set to graduate in 2014, according to the school's student newspaper, The Justice.
"He was a special person that made everyone feel like they were his best friend," a college dormmate told the paper.
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John Santaella
11:54 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Good luck trying to find the drug dealers. An adult junkie will get drugs anywhere. A short car or bus ride into NYC or Paterson or even a short walk around Teaneck. This will bring the son back and deter future dealers and users from meeting. Are they suing for monetary damages? This will solve our drug problems?
I'm not insensitive; I lost my son to an overdose 8 years, 5 months and 28 days ago. But who's counting. I feel for the loss of their son but if they think a lawsuit will bring any relief they are sadly mistaken. I think of my son every single day. The tears don't come as often now but they still come on occasion. My deepest sympathy to the Roth family. Don't try to look within for the cause of the addiction; it was not yours. Support and hold yourselves together; you need each other now more than ever before.
Des
4:02 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
what about one less dealer on the street and one more deterrent for others?
John Santaella
5:46 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
This country has been waging a ''war on drugs'' for the past 40 years. Our prisons are overpopulated with drug dealers and users and yet drugs are more prevalent today than ever. I don't see much of a deterrence until the profit is taken out of drug dealing.