In 2019, Governor Pritzker signed the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, making Illinois the eleventh state in the country to legalize marijuana for adult use. The legislation includes many laws, and one of them is the fact that people that use marijuana cannot be discriminated against for their consumption in family court. Unfortunately, many courts have still not recognized this part of the law and continue to discriminate against parents that use marijuana during child custody hearings. If you use marijuana, it is important to know how it may affect your child custody case, and how to prevent it from happening.
How Marijuana Use May Affect a Child Custody Case
Even though marijuana is now legal for adult use in Illinois, it remains illegal under federal law. Perhaps this is the reason why judges and some attorneys remain biased against individuals that choose to use marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. It is a difficult stereotype to defeat, even though the image of marijuana users most biased people have is not realistic.
Child custody battles are already some of the most contentious aspects of any divorce. It is not uncommon for one spouse to try and stain the character of the other parent when going through child custody hearings. When that parent uses marijuana, the other spouse may use that information to try and make it seem as though this fact compromises their ability to properly care for their child. This argument is often raised even when the use of marijuana has no impact on a parent’s ability to raise and care for their children.
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