DUI prescription medications is a growing problem in California. A variety of different medications, from Ambien to Adderall, Valium to Xanex, among many, many others, can be legal to possess and consume, but illegal to drive with any amount in your system.
As we have discussed on our website regarding the general category of
“DUI Drugs“, the law, under California Vehicle Code Section 23152(f), makes it a criminal offense to operate a motor vehicle under the influence of “any” drugs.
In other words, any drugs, even those prescribed to you, if they have the end effect of impairing a driver, are made illegal to drive with. As a result, many physician-prescribed medicines such as painkillers, amphetamines, sleep-aids, and even prescribed marijuana can be illegal to drive with if those substances are in your system.
Police officers on DUI patrol that do not have a mobile device that can easily measure the presence of drugs in a driver’s system cannot rely upon field breathalyzers, as they do with alcohol. The CHP and police officers agencies rely on Drug Recognition Expert (“DRE”) officers to conduct field tests in order to determine whether a driver is under the influence of drugs. These officers have received additional training specifically in recognizing drug impairment in suspect drivers.
Drugs have widely different effects within the body, and in the pharmaceutical and medical research worlds, the pattern of how long the drug or substance stays in the body is known as the half life of the pharmaceutical or drug — in other words, the length of time required for the concentration of a particular substance (typically a drug) to decrease to half of its starting dose in the body.
Every drug has a pattern where the drug is absorbed by the body and the levels increase (the absorption phase), a peak at some point, and then the levels of the drug are lowered as the drug is eliminated by the body (the elimination phase). Every drug will be different, and different bodies will affect the length of time of those phases. When drugs interact with each other, the effects can be magnified and impairment can be unpredictable if it exists at all.
Prescription drug DUIs that are most common are the following:
- Adderall DUIs,
- Xanax DUIs,
- Ambien DUIs,
- Vicodin DUIs,
- Ritalin DUIs,
- Valium DUIs,
- Lunesta DUIs,
- Sonata DUIs,
- Oxycodone DUIs,
- Benadryl DUIs,
- Methadone DUIs,
- Percocet DUIs,
- Morphine DUIs,
- Codeine DUIs and
- Clarinex DUIs.
If you have questions for our Orange County DUI Attorney, who is experienced with Prescription Drug DUI cases and their unique handling, contact our firm today. We would be happy to discuss the details of your case and how we can help you.
Contact us today if you have questions for our Orange County Drug DUI Attorney. We can help you with your case.