In Florida, more than 50,000 people use medical marijuana to manage their chronic pain and severe illnesses like AIDs and Parkinson’s. Despite the continued trend of relaxing attitudes toward marijuana use sweeping the United States, many are still opposed to its use and legalization for medical and recreational purposes.
If you are a medical marijuana user, discuss your use with your lawyer before you develop your parenting plan. The court may impose restrictions on your use, such as requiring that you abstain from using medical marijuana while your child is present.
Does your Marijuana Use Impact your Child’s Safety or your Ability to Parent Effectively?
This is the main issue at hand. Your former spouse may allege that your medical marijuana use somehow puts your child’s safety in danger or negatively impacts your ability to parent your child. He or she might claim that you do not keep your medication securely locked away from your child’s reach, that you smoke marijuana while your child is present and expose him or her to the smoke and act of smoking, and/or that because you use medical marijuana while your child is in your home, your ability to provide for your child and react to dangerous situations is impaired.
How can you prove these types of allegation are false? With evidence. If your former spouse alleges that you use marijuana simply to “get high,” documentation showing that you are a medical cannabis patient is an essential piece of evidence to show that your use is legitimate.
Other pieces of evidence you can use to refute allegations about your use include:
- Testimonies from your doctor regarding how and why you use medical marijuana;
- Photographs showing how you store your medicine securely away from your child; and
- Testimonies from other adults in your child’s life, such as his or her pediatrician or teacher, attesting to your medical marijuana use’s effects on your child.
Your child’s parenting plan is developed according to what the court deems to be in his or her best interest. Maintaining a consistent relationship with both parents is typically in a child’s best interest, and if your legal marijuana use does not interfere with your ability to parent your child, it should not affect your parenting plan. However, courts and judges can be biased, so it is in your best interest to be proactive about supporting your claim and have evidence available to demonstrate your fitness as a parent.
Work with an Experienced Orlando Park Family Lawyer
If you have a valid prescription for medical marijuana, your responsible use of the medication should not interfere with your parenting plan. If your former spouse or another party is attempting to take your medical needs out of context in an effort to sabotage your relationship with your children, you need to work with an experienced Winter Park family lawyer who can represent your case and prove that the accusations are incorrect. Contact our team at Aubrey Law today to set up your initial consultation with us.
Resources:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.13.html
palmbeachpost.com/business/florida-pot-patient-count-tops-000-palm-beach-county-first-dispensary-set-open/KDVdNmECMGCBjX9anU9xHM/