Anne Arundel County DUI Drug Charges
An Anne Arundel County drug DUI charge is a serious offense with stiff consequences. The impairing drug could be perfectly legal and even prescribed, but if it affects your driving ability, it may put you at risk for a drug DUI charge. Contact an experienced attorney today for a consultation on what drugs and level of impairment might constitute legal charges.
Drug DUI Frequency
Drug DUI charges in Anne Arundel County are becoming more frequent. Alcohol DUIs still have a far greater frequency, but with the opioid epidemic and the greater recognition of drugs, attorneys are seeing a lot more drug cases than they had before.
Although there is a multitude of substances that could lead to convictions, it is often easier to challenge drug DUIs than alcohol DUIs. Therefore, conviction rates are probably considerably lower than alcohol.
When a Drug DUI Charge Can Happen
During a traffic stop or any incident in which the police officers come into contact with a driver, and they have reason to believe that the person is under the influence or impaired, they can conduct an investigation. If the evidence of that investigation is sufficient to justify the officer’s suspicions of impairment or influence of drugs, an arrest can be made. Typically, an alcohol test is performed first.
However, if the person has no alcohol in their system or blows extremely low, yet the coordination, communication, and interaction lead the officer to believe there is still significant impairment and something else going on, the officer can request a blood test. They can also get what is called a drug recognition expert, or DRE, to administer a drug analysis from the person and go through a series of tests that are far different from the alcohol tests like the field sobriety tests.
These tests analyze a person’s heart rate, their response to light and dark, their physical acuity and a lot of other subjects that are designed specifically for drug impairment and effects versus alcohol impairment.
Similarities Between Drug DUI and Alcohol DUI
There is no real difference in the onset of a drug and alcohol-related DUI case. An officer still needs to pull somebody over, whether it is for a traffic infraction, an accident, or even equipment malfunction, like a taillight being out. Once the person is lawfully stopped, if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe someone is under the influence or impaired, they can ask the person to exit the vehicle and submit to field sobriety tests.
If the person consents to such tests and does poorly on them while showing other indicators of impairment, the officer likely can conduct a lawful arrest and transport the person back to the station for further proceedings and investigation.
Anything that can affect somebody’s balance, coordination and function can lead to a drug DUI. Even lawfully prescribed medications that a person can lawfully take can preclude someone from driving if they are impaired by the substance. Many anxiety medications and even mild sedatives can negatively affect someone’s ability to drive safely. It does not have to be illicit or unlawful drugs. If a person is driving, they cannot drive impaired or under the influence.
Call an Anne Arundel DUI Drug Attorney Today
Being impaired while driving by any substance other than alcohol could constitute an Anne Arundel drug DUI charge. Contact a local DUI lawyer today for a consultation on your case.