If a parent had several driving tickets and drug abuse can they take your child away?

It is hard to tell from this question who "they" might be.  if you mean the State, it would take a CPS determination tht the child was a victim of serious abuse or neglect.  If you mean the other parent seeking primary custody, maybe -- I doubt anyone will care much about (most kinds) of traffic tickets -- DUIs involving driving with the kids might be a different story, and some judges, at least, have a zero-tolerance policy for drug abuse, believing it incompatible with being a fit parent; those judges consider it a matter of making a choice between your drugs and your kids.  The rules for changing child custody are detailed here.  If you are concerned -- and you should be -- you should take steps to get clean before the situation gets worse.