Opinion ID: 2491001
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Physical Effect

Text: ¶ 57. I first wish to address the effect of marihuana usage, which, this Court has held to be the key determinant in finding that a drug is sufficient for this ground for divorce. See Lawson, 821 So.2d at 145, Ladner, 436 So.2d at 1375. While the chemical content of the like drug is irrelevant, I would hold that the physical or physiological effect of the drug was meant to be considered in the Ladner effect test. ¶ 58. In Ladner, this Court found a physical effect [on the husband] similar to morphine or opium. Ladner, 436 So.2d at 1375. Furthermore, if effect and thus like drug mean no more than work productivity, marital duties, and repugnancy of the marriage, the term would become synonymous with the excessive standard already incorporated into the test. As a result, I have analyzed the physical effects of marihuana and find it to be unlike opium and morphine as a matter of law. ¶ 59. For information on the effects of marihuana, and of the most commonly utilized opiates, I consulted the Research Report Series of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse. [13] ¶ 60. Marihuana, per this resource, is ingested to cause the user to feel a euphoria or high by stimulating brain cells to release the chemical dopaminea phenomenon also associated with most drugs of abuse, as well as alcohol, tobacco, chocolate, and sexual activity. Acute dangers associated with marihuana intoxication include short-term memory loss, impaired attention and judgment, increased heart rate and blood pressure, decreased coordination and balance, and occasionally feelings of anxiety, distrust, or panic. Cumulative use may lead to addiction, though it is considered less addictive than hard drugs. ¶ 61. The following information is also gleaned from the Research Report Series of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse. The most commonly used opiate in the United States today is heroin. Heroin is severely addictive, and withdrawal can cause painful physical symptoms, including vomiting and bone pain. Since users are typically unaware of the amount and purity of the drug they are using, the drug can lead to nearly instantaneous death upon use. In the brain, the heroin converts to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors, triggering a surge of pleasurable sensation called a rush. Several drug analogs to opium have been produced, some by pharmaceutical companies for medical reasons, but others, known as designer drugs, by illegal laboratories. This latter category may be more dangerous than the original compound. Several of the most abused prescription drugs are also opioids, commonly prescribed because of their pain-relieving properties. These opioids, such as OxyContin, also produce euphoria as a side effect. Withdrawal leads to the same physical symptoms caused by heroin withdrawal, and a large enough dose of these drugs may lead to death. Id. ¶ 62. The effect of marihuana is unlike the effect of opiates. The only real similarities between the drugs appear to be the euphoric rush or high associated with their use, and the addiction. Neither of these features is alike in degree. Marihuana, according to the Research Report Series of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse, never leads to immediate death, lacks physical withdrawal symptoms, and is much less addictive than opium. While this resource indicates that marihuana clearly leads to decreased activity in the abuser, holding that marihuana is like an opiate on these grounds is analogous to holding that caffeine is like cocaine. ¶ 63. Our state's caselaw on this issue, scant though it is, has been dominated by the abuse of prescription drugs including opiates, and without exception, a divorce has been granted only when individuals were much more severely incapacitated than James was in this case. See Ladner, 436 So.2d at 1375 (spouse abused prescription drugs including barbiturates, amphetamines, Dalmane, Librium, Ativan, Nolundar, Mellaril, Sinequan, Vivactil, Talwin, and Tylenol No. 3 with Codeine, which constituted opium, morphine, or other like drug); Smithson v. Smithson, 113 Miss. 146, 74 So. 149, 150 (1917), modified on suggestion of error, 113 Miss. 644, 74 So. 609 (1917) (unspecified drugs to palliate her physical pains to such an extent and period of time that she became an habitual and excessive user of these insidious drugs.... constituted opium, morphine, or other like drug); Ashburn v. Ashburn, 970 So.2d at 209-10 (Miss.Ct.App.2007) (morphine prescribed by a physician, abuse of prescription drugs including Lortab, Effexor, Lithium, Neurontin, Klonopin, and OxyContin, as well as abuse of hydrocodone and marihuana, together constituted opium, morphine, or other like drug); and Lawson, 821 So.2d at 145 (abuse of the prescription drugs Darvocet-N, Lortab, hydrocodone, and Tylenol No. 3 with Codeine constituted opium, morphine, or other like drug). ¶ 64. With this caselaw in mind, in today's case, James was able to function on a relatively normal level while abusing marihuana, hardly a behavior associated with abusers of drugs as depicted in the cases cited in the preceding paragraph. ¶ 65. In addition, given the unfortunate prevalence of marihuana in American society, it is a dangerous precedent to allow divorce for marihuana use alone. As already revealed, marihuana is considered to be a relatively mild drug, and remains the least regulated of all illegal drugs in the State of Mississippi. Marihuana is less addictive, less immediately dangerous, and less incapacitating than the major opiates, and indeed than most other illegal drugs. Allowing a divorce based on marihuana abuse will effectively hold that divorce is available for the abuse of any drugwhich is not a natural reading of opium, morphine or other like drug. ¶ 66. To be sure, marihuana abuse, like alcohol abuse, has the propensity to destroy a marriage. However, the Legislature has not seen fit to provide for divorce on such grounds, and it is not this Court's responsibility to create new grounds for divorce ex nihilo. In my opinion, the natural meaning of opium, morphine or other like drug is not so broad as to cover marihuana. Accordingly, I would find that the chancery court erred in granting a divorce on the ground of using opium, marihuana or other like drug, where the sole drug habitually and excessively used was marihuana.