Divorce (Part V)—Habitual drunkenness or drug user
The substance abuser
Two other fault based grounds for divorce in Mississippi are habitual drunkenness and drug use. Under the statute, “habitual drunkenness” and “habitual and excessive use of opium, morphine, or other like drug” are each grounds for a divorce. Attempting to define what is meant by the statute is more difficult.
The cases in Mississippi answering the question of what is habitual drunkenness are few. In those cases where it is addressed, the courts have usually required that threats or some other adverse effect be shown on the marriage in addition to the spouse being habitually drunk. It is a very fact based ground and depends on the circumstances of each case.
As for “habitual” drug use, in 1983 the Mississippi Supreme Court created a test in a case where the wife sought a divorce from her husband who was a regular abuser of prescription medication. The Court stated that in order to prove a charge of “habitual” drug use as grounds for divorce, the complaining party must prove:
- That the guilty spouse’s use of drugs was habitual in that it was customarily and frequently indulged;
- That the guilty spouse’s drug use was so excessive that he did not have the ability to control his appetite for drugs; and
- That the drugs were morphine or opium or comparable to morphine or opium in effect.
Ladner v. Ladner, 436 So.2d 1366, 1375 (Miss. 1983). Given the husband in Ladner used drugs on a daily basis from 1976 to the time of separation in 1980, lied to his physicians to get more medication, and the effects of the drug use were similar to morphine or opium, the Court held the chancellor was correct in granting the divorce on this basis.
If you are a victim of a spouse who is abusing alcohol and drugs and it is impacting your marriage (which it usually does), you need to seek the advice of an attorney to further discuss your options. This is even more critical if children are in the house. At the very least, seek out help for your spouse in dealing with their addiction.
