Are You Facing Criminal Charges for a Drug DUI?

The law prohibits individuals from consuming any substance that could impact their ability to operate a vehicle. A DUI arrest based on drug intoxication includes recreational (such as marijuana) or pharmaceutical (prescription) drugs. If a law enforcement officer suspects that you are under the influence of drugs you may be arrested and charged and then tested for drug use with a blood or urine test. The police have a right to test you and if you refuse, your license may be suspended for a year or more. It is important to note, however, that even if you have a prescription for the drug in your system if the officer feels as though the drug impairs your driving you could face a DUI conviction.

Protecting the Rights of the Accused in Alpharetta and Roswell

In the past couple of years our firm has seen an increase in the frequency of DUI drug arrests and this has been a national trend. We believe that the reasons there are so many medicated drivers has to do with a few factors. First of all, our aging population is living longer these days than in previous generations. As the baby boomers are getting older, more people are relying on prescription drugs for arthritis, cholesterol, high blood pressure and other conditions for health management. On the other hand, every year the numbers of people on daily medications for conditions such as depression, insomnia, ADHD, anxiety and pain are greatly increasing.

As anti-drinking and driving campaigns have reduced the numbers of drunk drivers on the road, there has been a sharp increase in medicated teen and adult drivers. It's only reasonable to assume the number of DUI drug arrests would sharply raise accordingly. Today, police officers have a lot of discretion when it comes to assessing a driver's impairment from a legal or illegal drug. This is a problem because not only are many of these assumptions wrong, but by far the majority of law enforcement officers don't have specialized training in detecting impairment from drugs. Not even the standardized field sobriety tests are designed to detect impairment from legal or illegal drugs and substances.

Roswell DUI Defense Attorney

Since DUI and drugs is a newly developing area of the law, there are a lot of ambiguities that can be used to the defense's advantage. There haven't been any studies quantifying any amount of any illegal or legal drug and how such drugs cause driving impairment. Even if a blood test shows a high level of a prescription drug, neither a toxicologist or a crime lab witness can state that the amount of the drug means the driver was impaired. This is good news for the defense and bad news for the prosecution.

The prosecution will have to prove that the driver was "less safe" to drive a motor vehicle due to being under the influence of the drug in order for him or her to meet the burden of proof. Fortunately, with over 20 years experience in the field of DUI, we are closely familiar with DUI drug cases and we know how to effectively challenge them in court.

Contact a Roswell DUI Lawyer from our firm today for the legal representation that you require in facing criminal charges such as this.