Opinion ID: 2491001
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Excessive & Uncontrollable Use

Text: ¶ 31. Excessive drug use requires a showing that the offending spouse abused drugs. Ladner, 436 So.2d at 1373-1374. The offending spouse must be so addicted to the use of drugs that he cannot control his appetite for drugs whenever the opportunity to obtain drugs is present. Id. ¶ 32. James argues that his drug use was casual, it relaxed him, and he was not dependent on it. The evidence shows the contrary. Stacy and James testified that James had attempted to stop smoking marijuana several times, quitting for weeks at a time. But, as James stated himself, he always went back to it. ¶ 33. James argues that his drug use was not as serious as that of the spouses in Ladner and Ashburn. In Ladner, the spouse deceitfully obtained numerous prescription drugs from multiple doctors. Ladner, 436 So.2d at 1369. He abused the prescription drugs continuously for four years and exceeded the prescribed dosages. Id. The spouse's drug use negatively affected his attitude, actions, work habits, and family and social relationships. Id. The wife testified that her husband was hyperactive in the morninghaving taken Ritalinand practically immobile in the eveningafter taking tranquilizers. Id. He worked only two days per week and spent the rest of the time in idleness and agitation. Id. He also ceased communicating with friends. Id. Because of his drug habit, the spouse had squandered his son's savings account, and had taken many valuable items from the home. Id. ¶ 34. Likewise, in Ashburn, the spouse's drug use was excessive and uncontrollable. In this case, the wife abused prescription drugs throughout the marriage, also deceitfully obtaining prescriptions and exceeding the prescribed dosages. Ashburn, 970 So.2d at 207 (¶ 7). She once left home and did not return for weeks. Id. The husband testified that his wife would be yelling one day and drooling in a drug-induced state the next. Id. at 208 (¶ 8). She forged his name on checks and also stole someone else's written prescription. Id. at 208 (¶¶ 8-9). The wife's drug use increased to the point where she used a three-month supply of pills in one month and overdosed. Id. at 208 (¶ 7). ¶ 35. The extent of James's addiction may not be as drastic as that of the spouses in Ladner and Ashburn, but it is obvious that James had a problem. Quitting for weeks at a time but then always going back to achieve a high is the nature of addiction. Like the spouse in Ladner, James abused the drug almost daily for years-approximately forty years in James's case. This is evidence that, at the time, James could not control his appetite for marijuana. Also, the chancellor found that James's marijuana use negatively impacted his interaction with his family, work productivity, and the family's financial stability. There is substantial evidence in the record to support the chancellor's findings. Thus, we hold that the chancellor did not err by finding that James's drug use was excessive and uncontrollable.