Opinion ID: 2491001
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: James's Drug Use

Text: ¶ 4. During the trial, Stacy, James, and Barbara Ruth (Stacy's mother) testified about the couple's marriage. Before the couple married, Stacy knew that James regularly smoked marijuana, and James admitted that he had been smoking marijuana since he was fourteen years old. James continued smoking marijuana throughout the marriage. ¶ 5. Although the couple had conversations about James's need to cease his marijuana use, James stated Stacy never asked him to quit. Stacy thought James would stop his drug use once the twins were born. According to Barbara, James called her after the twins were born, acknowledged his drug use as a problem, and told her he intended to quit. Because of James's marijuana use, Stacy was afraid that he would get into legal trouble, especially since he often picked her up from work with marijuana in the car. Several times during the marriage, James managed to go weeks without using marijuana. He said the longest period of time was one month. But he would always start using again. ¶ 6. Stacy testified that James had used other drugs. He once smoked cocaine at the beginning of their marriage, and he used Xanax, which was not prescribed to him, to cope with sleep deprivation. James stated that the cocaine incident had happened one time in 1995 or 1996. He said he took Xanax for two years, but that was several years ago. James testified that he had not used marijuana since January 2009, and he was willing to take a drug test. ¶ 7. James was questioned about the frequency of his marijuana use. James testified that he would purchase one quarter-ounce bag of marijuana per month, which cost between thirty-five and fifty dollars. James could make six to seven cigarettes with this amount. Stacy said James smoked marijuana multiple times a day, starting in the morning before work. Both parties stated that the children were never exposed to James's drug use because James smoked the marijuana in the garage.