A newly proposed bill could make drug offenders civilly liable at the federal level for the first time.

The Drug Dealer Liability Act, introduced by Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, makes illegal drug dealers and manufacturers civilly liable to anyone who can prove they were directly or indirectly injured as a result of an individual’s drug use.

Similar laws are in place in a dozen states, including Michigan and Illinois. Latham’s proposal would take these laws to the federal level.

“The bill will allow America to shift the cost of drug abuse back to the people that fuel it in the first place, the producers,” said James Carstensen, communications director for Latham’s office.

In 2000, the cost of America’s illegal drug usage amounted to approximately $161 billion, according to Latham’s Web site. Latham is a member of the Speaker’s Task Force for a Drug-Free America and has engaged in a “media-intensive anti-drug initiative throughout his time in Congress.”

State laws making drug dealers civilly liable have met with some success.

Under state laws, a jury in South Dakota awarded a woman whose husband was killed by a driver under the influence of methamphetamine $268 million, according to the Model Drug Deal Liability Web site. A suit filed in Detroit awarded the city $7 million to aid in anti-drug initiatives. Without legislation similar to the Drug Dealer Liability Act, these charges would not have been able to be filed.

Although the goals of the Drug Dealer Liability Act seem practical on paper, collecting payment from drug offenders is a daunting task.

“There simply are not very many truly wealthy drug dealers here,” said Capt. Gary Foster of the Central Iowa Drug Task Force.

Despite the discouraging evidence for actual collection, the trials did garner media attention.

“There are few sizeable assets to be taken from most offenders, but these cases play well on TV,” Foster said.

He said media coverage of the consequences of drug use might be as valuable as the money awarded to plaintiffs and more so to the community at large.

Although using the media to change peoples’ attitudes on drugs is not a new trend, showing a drug offenders’ car being towed away because it was awarded in a civil law suit can only help reinforce the consequences of drug use.

“Any tool that law enforcement is given to help fight narcotic production and use is good,” Foster said.