ARE YOU OLD ENOUGH

The age of consent in Alabama is sixteen years.  If a child below the age of sixteen has consensual sex the adult can be charged with rape second. This is a felony offense that includes fine cost and prison time.  The most servere punishment is not prison time it is the Alabama Sex Offender Notification Act.  This act requires the person to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
You must be at least sixteen years old to get a driver's license in Alabama. You must be at least fifteen years old to get a learner's permit. If you are under eighteen, you need to have had a learner's permit for at least six months before you may apply for a driver's license. You have a restricted driver's license if you are sixteen or if you are seventeen and have had the license for less than six months. There are two general restrictions on this license. First, you may not drive your car after midnight. Second, you may not drive with more than four people in your car excluding parents or legal guardians.
The legal age to marry without parental consent is eighteen. People who are sixteen or seventeen years old may marry with the consent of both parents. Prospective brides and grooms should bring a certified copy of their birth certificate to the courthouse to obtain a marriage license. Both parents must present valid identification and consent in writing, for someone aged sixteen, seventeen or eighteen to marry.
The age of majority, in the state of Alabama, is nineteen years of age for an unmarried person and eighteen years of age for married persons, widows or widowers. Any person in this state, at the arrival at the age of nineteen years, shall be relieved of his disabilities of minority and thereafter shall have the same legal rights and abilities as persons over twenty-one years of age. No law of this state shall discriminate for or against any person between and including the ages of nineteen and twenty-one years solely on the basis of age. (Code of Alabama) The definition of age of majority is: "The age when a person acquires all the rights and responsibilities of being an adult." The rights of the parent, in the state of Alabama, are transferred to the child, when the child turns nineteen.
It is unlawful for any minor to purchase, use, possess, or transport tobacco or tobacco products within the state of Alabama. It is unlawful for anyone under the age of twenty-one to buy or consume alcohol in Alabama.
Alabama law prohibits anyone from selling, giving or lending a handgun to any person under age eighteen. Alabama law also prohibits the delivery of a handgun to any person under the age of eighteen.
Finally you must be nineteen years of age in Alabama to decide which parent you will live with until then it is up to a judge to decide who has custody.

CALLING IN DEBT

I’ve had a request to let everyone know when and where a bill collector is allowed to call about your overdue account. They can call between 8am and 9pm, your local time. They can call you at work if they do not know your employer disapproves. However, they should not call during times "which should be known to be inconvenient." So you should not get a call on Christmas morning or at noon on Thanksgiving. If the call is at a bad time, just say, "This is not a convenient time" and let them know specifically what time is convenient. They are not allowed to call you at a time that you have already told them is inconvenient. Also, they can’t call you repeatedly.

There's no law that says you have to communicate with a debt collector by phone. If you hang up on a debt collector there is nothing they can do about it.

All you have to do to stop debt collectors from calling you is tell them that you prefer to communicate with them in writing. Written communication works in your favor because it gives you a record of everything that is said. However, by law, the debt collector does not have to write to you.

The best way to stop debt collectors from calling is by sending a “cease and desist” letter. Send it by certified mail with return receipt requested. This will provide proof that the letter was sent and received. Once the collection agency receives the “cease and desist” letter they can communicate with you one more time by mail. Their letter will say one of three things. It may state that further efforts to collect the debt are terminated. Most likely it will state that you MAY be sued in a court of law. The third thing it could state is that you ARE being sued.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is the Federal law that says what debt collectors can and can't do. They should not call you about a debt that you don't owe. When a debt collector first contacts you about a debt, you have the right to request them to verify the debt is yours. If the debt collector can't come back with proof that you owe the debt, they're not allowed to contact you anymore. You should not admit to owing the debt in any communication.

It is best to talk with your lawyer. An attorney can write the “cease and desist” letter on your behalf. He can represent you if you are be sued. She can also negotiate a settlement of the debt and a payment plan should you wish to pay the creditor.

DID I PASS?

The war on drugs has spawn useful techniques for detecting drug use. A drug screen may be requested for employment purposes or for court. A urine drug screen is the one most often used. If the urine screen is positive then another test of the sample is used to confirm the findings. If the result of the screen is negative all is well. However, this might not mean that the person has not used drugs. A minimum level is required to trigger the test. If the drug use does not reach this level the test results are negative even if there are small amounts of drugs in the person’s system. If the results are positive the person may have never used drugs but the test has shown a false positive.

A poppy seed bagel triggered a false positive on a drug test in Pittsburg Pa. According to a federal civil rights suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania a Pittsburgh-area couple’s newborn daughter was seized and held for five days. According to the suit, testing positive for opiates after eating poppy seeds is not an urban myth. Several courts have recognized the risks of a false positive due to common foods and medication. In a 2004 opinion, the Pennsylvania Superior Court noted that "eating poppy seeds can produce an opiate positive test result."

Heroin and cocaine can only be detected for a few hours after use, but their metabolites can be detected for several days in urine. The results vary with the particular test parameters. Marijuana can stay in a person’s system for weeks or even months depending on the metabolism of the individual being tested.

Drug users have attempted to hide or mask their drug use from the test. A very common method used to foil the test is to drink bleach. Most tests have another subtest looking for this. Another way is to use clean urine from someone who does not use drugs. Users often have a child furnish them a sample. They keep a clean specimen on their person in case a test is requested.

It can be difficult to use another person’s urine. An officer usually observes the person who is the object of the test produce the urine. So to get around this drug users have attempted to fool the observer. The internet sells all types of devises that were designed for this along with guaranteed clean urine. Several people have gone to jail after officers have discovered an apparatus.

We use to believe that hair testing was more reliable than urine testing. However, there have been several false positives on hairs sample test recently. Also a number of people who have tested negative using a hair follicle test have tested positive on the urine test.

Light One Up For Baby

Should women who use drugs during pregnancy be prosecuted and sent to prison? It is undisputed that drugs do harm to unborn children. One drug in particular has been shown to be responsible for many problems. This drug causes miscarriage, placental abruption, and low birth weight babies. It's use can also cause spasm of the arteries, including those that send blood to the placenta. This reduces the baby's oxygen and nutrient supplies, which can result in smaller and underweight babies.

This drug is not crack cocaine, heroin, or even meth. The drug is nicotine. Smoking nearly doubles a woman's risk of having a low-birth weight baby. In 2004, 11.9 percent of babies born to smokers in the United States were of low birth weight (less than 5½ pounds), compared to 7.2 percent of babies of nonsmokers. This information is from the March of Dimes. Underweight babies face an increased risk of serious health problems and chronic lifelong disabilities. These babies can suffer from cerebral palsy, mental retardation and learning problems, and even death. Babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are up to three times as likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) as babies of nonsmokers.

Smokers are more likely to have a baby with birth defects, particularly congenital heart defects. A 2003 study suggests that babies of mothers who smoke during pregnancy undergo withdrawal-like symptoms similar to those seen in babies of mothers who use some illicit drugs. For example, babies of smokers appear to be more jittery and difficult to soothe than babies of nonsmokers. Among the effects of smoking on a fetus are symptoms of going through nicotine withdrawal and chemical detoxification during the first few hours of life.

There have not been studies of pregnant women and their babies who have used heroin, crack or meth but did not smoke. The researchers are having trouble finding a statistical sample. It seems that almost every meth, crack, or heroin user also smokes. The studies that have been done on drug using pregnant women and their babies cannot determine if the negative effects are from the illegal drug or from the nicotine.

In some Alabama counties women are being prosecuted for chemical endangerment of a child because they consumed a drug during their pregnancy. This is a law that was intended to prevent children from being exposed to meth labs. The legislature did not intend this law to be applied to addicts who are pregnant. Everyone should know that drug use during pregnancy is bad for the mother and the child. A woman should not use any drug, consume alcohol, or smoke during their pregnancy. However there are only four overcrowded rehab centers that will accept women who are with child in Alabama.

Women who have a drug problem can have an abortion and not be charged under this law. The wrongful enforcement of this law means that women will not seek obstetric care. This places their babies at additional risk.