Report: Teaneck Parents Sue Drug Dealers in Son's Overdose Death

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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