By:  Brown                                              S.B. No. 15
       73R1056 NSC-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the liability of a person who manufactures or delivers
    1-3  certain illegal substances for damages arising from the use of the
    1-4  substances.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, is amended
    1-7  by adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
    1-8                    SUBCHAPTER H.  CIVIL LIABILITY
    1-9        Sec. 481.231.  LIABILITY OF MANUFACTURER OR DELIVERER.  A
   1-10  person who manufactures or delivers a controlled substance in
   1-11  violation of Section 481.112, 481.113, 481.114, 481.119, 481.120,
   1-12  481.122, or 481.123 is liable to a person who uses the controlled
   1-13  substance for any damages arising from property damage, personal
   1-14  injury, or death proximately caused by that use, including:
   1-15              (1)  damages both to the user and to other persons
   1-16  arising as a result of the influence of the controlled substance on
   1-17  the behavior or judgment of the user; and
   1-18              (2)  damages relating to the long-term physical,
   1-19  emotional, and psychological effects of the controlled substance on
   1-20  the user.
   1-21        Sec. 481.232.  MORE THAN ONE MANUFACTURER OR SELLER.  A
   1-22  person who manufactures or delivers a controlled substance is
   1-23  liable to a user under Section 481.231 for damages caused by the
   1-24  use of the controlled substance by the user even if the person is
    2-1  not the sole source of the controlled substance for the user if the
    2-2  user can show that the controlled substance manufactured or
    2-3  delivered by the person and used by the user significantly
    2-4  contributed to the damages caused by the use of the controlled
    2-5  substance by the user.
    2-6        Sec. 481.233.  CERTAIN PROPERTY EXEMPT.  Property that is
    2-7  seized and forfeited under Chapter 59, Code of Criminal Procedure,
    2-8  is exempt from attachment, execution, and seizure for the
    2-9  satisfaction of a judgment under this subchapter against a person
   2-10  who manufactures or delivers a controlled substance.
   2-11        SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to damages caused by the
   2-12  use of a controlled substance, as that term is defined by Section
   2-13  481.002, Health and Safety Code, on or after the effective date of
   2-14  this Act.
   2-15        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-16  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-17  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-18  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-19  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   2-20  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   2-21  passage, and it is so enacted.