If you’ve been arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, you stand to incur serious penalties. It’s important to understand your legal rights and how law enforcement officers reach a determination that an individual is too impaired by drugs to be driving. Here’s what you need to know.
How to Measure Drug Impairment
Measuring the degree of impairment when someone is driving under the influence of drugs is more difficult than measuring the degree of impairment when someone is driving under the influence of alcohol. Drugs affect everyone differently, and there’s no definitive test that determines how much of a substance a person must have taken in order to be considered intoxicated.
While law enforcement officers will have a person they suspect is driving under the influence of drugs tested, typically with a blood or urine test, only the presence of drugs is detected. Since drugs like marijuana can stay in the system for weeks and cocaine can stay in the system for days, these tests do not indicate that a person was intoxicated at the time they were arrested for a DUI of drugs.
Drug Recognition Experts
Often, Drug Recognition Experts, or officers who have been specially trained to recognize when an individual is under the influence of drugs, are used to illustrate to the court how a person was intoxicated by drugs at the time of their arrest. However, since a Drug Recognition Expert can only offer objective evaluations and not concrete evidence, this can be challenged.
The Importance of Hiring an Attorney
If you were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, it’s critical that you contact an attorney as soon as possible to learn about your rights and how you can aggressively defend them. Since there is often little hard evidence to prove that someone was intoxicated by drugs at the time they were arrested, an attorney may be able to negotiate the reduction or elimination of your charges.
We have the skills and resources to zealously defend you after an arrest. We have defended numerous individuals against drug and alcohol charges and can provide you with the quality legal representation you need during this difficult time. Our goal is to ensure that you always understand what is going on with your case and what the next steps will be. Call us for a consultation today to discuss your individual needs in detail.