Jane M. Shields1
Pennsylvania law lacks clear direction in cases when an adult supplies illegal drugs to a minor
Sadly, drugs and the drug culture have infiltrated our everyday lives, even in Chester County. However, despite the prevalence of drug cases in our legal system, Pennsylvania law lacks clear direction in cases when an adult supplies illegal drugs to a minor. Consider the following frightening scenario:
One Saturday night your 15-year-old daughter leaves your house to spend the night at a friend's. She tells you she is going to stay up late and watch an 80's movie marathon, but her real intention is to go to an all night "rave" party. Before the party, your daughter's 18-year-old friend calls an acquaintance to buy Ecstasy, an illegal drug that has both stimulant (amphetamine-like) and hallucinogenic (LSD-like) properties. Your daughter is then driven to the ice cream shop you used to take her to every Sunday when she was a child. A 19-year-old man sells your daughter an Ecstasy pill for the $20 you gave her earlier that evening to buy popcorn and snacks. During the party, your daughter's friend advises her to only take half of a pill, but your daughter naively takes a whole pill – a double dose of Ecstasy – because she has yet to feel the effects of the first half of the pill. At three o'clock in the morning you are awakened by a phone call, and informed of your daughter's death due to an Ecstasy overdose.
Who is Responsible?
Surprisingly, the sale of drugs to a minor does not constitute enough evidence to establish the wickedness, hardness of heart, cruelty, and recklessness required to support a conviction of third-degree murder. In Commonwealth v. Ludwig, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled murder charges did not apply to the 19-year-old man who sold the drug Ecstasy to three teenage girls. There may be criminal liability for the drug dealer for drug dealing, possession of drugs, and possession with intent to deliver – but there will be no liability for murder.
Parents might then turn to civil law to find some basis to hold a drug dealer responsible for the death of their child. The law has no answer. While there are civil remedies when an adult furnishes alcohol to a minor, surprisingly, there are no remedies available to a parent whose child is harmed when given or sold a drug.
A void in the law currently exists. There is little or no recourse for parents if their minor children push the boundaries of acceptable behavior regarding drugs, as teenagers often do, and are harmed by the actions of adults.Click here to view the author's biography.
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1 Summer law clerk Juan P. Sanchez contributed to this article.
The following article is informational only and not intended as legal advice.Speak with a licensed attorney about your own specific situation.
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