Habitual drug addiction is a ground for divorce in Georgia, and it is a different ground from habitual intoxication.
What the Statute Says
OCGA 19-5-3(12) makes a ground for total divorce out of “[h]abitual drug addiction, which shall consist of addiction to any controlled substance as defined in Article 2 of Chapter 13 of Title 16.”
Two words carry the weight. “Habitual” rules out isolated use, the same way it does for alcohol under OCGA 19-5-3(9). “Addiction” asks about dependence, not about how much someone uses or how much you disapprove.
The Statute Sends You Elsewhere for the Drug List
This ground is defined by a cross-reference. Whether a substance counts is answered by Article 2 of Chapter 13 of Title 16, the part of Georgia’s criminal code holding the controlled substance schedules.
That is a genuine limit rather than a technicality. Whether a particular substance is scheduled is answered in Title 16, not in the divorce code, so it is worth checking the list rather than assuming.
Why It Is a Separate Ground
Georgia’s habitual intoxication ground dates to 1850, and the Georgia Supreme Court held over a century ago that it reaches alcoholic drunkenness only. Habitual drug addiction was added later, precisely because the older ground did not reach drugs.
Where both alcohol and drugs are involved, the two are pleaded separately, each under its own subsection.
What There Is Not
There is essentially no Georgia appellate case law construing this ground. Cruel treatment and adultery have been argued in Georgia’s appellate courts for well over a century; this one has not.
It does get pleaded. In Blackmon v. Dudley, 916 S.E.2d 4 (Ga. Ct. App. 2025), a wife counterclaimed on four grounds at once — adultery, habitual intoxication, habitual drug addiction, and irretrievable breakdown — citing subsections (6), (9), (12) and (13) separately. But the appeal turned on attorney fees, and the court said nothing about what (12) requires.
So the statute’s own words, and the schedules they point to, are where the argument happens.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!