Drug addiction is a disease that affects millions of American families. And in recent years, the use of prescription painkillers and opioids has become increasingly prevalent. As such, more and more people are finding themselves with a drug habit that has devastated their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
If you are a parent who has issues with prescription or other kinds of drugs, you could face the frightening prospect of losing your parenting rights. That is to say, if your drug addiction has become problematic enough to draw the attention of a court, then you could be barred from seeing your children.
Depending on your circumstances, your addiction could impact your parental rights, visitation or child custody. And the depth of this impact could be related to such factors as your history of abuse and the kinds of drugs you are using.
As soon as the court is made aware of a parent’s drug issues, his or her visitation rights will be suspended. It is possible that some measure of supervised visitation will be permitted. Or, the court may require that the parent seeks and successfully receives treatment prior to having visitation rights reestablished.
The court will always view custody and visitation decisions through the prism of the child’s best interests. And if you have struggled with substance abuse and are trying to maintain or regain your parenting rights, you need to make a strong case that you are capable of providing your children proper care and a safe environment.
To this end, you may want to have an experienced family law attorney help you prepare to make your case in court. The attorney can assess your situation and work to make sure that the judge understands that you are a loving parent and are prepared to do what is necessary to maintain your relationship with your child.