Chemical tests only reveal that marijuana is in your system — not that your driving was impaired. This reality can make it hard for a prosecutor to prove that you committed the crime of driving under the influence of marijuana.
In California, using marijuana is legal in certain circumstances, such as if you have a qualified medical condition. Nevertheless, it is illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana (or any other drug) if your mental or physical abilities are impaired to the point that you cannot drive with the caution of a sober person using ordinary care. There is no “legal limit” for driving while under the influence of marijuana in California. So how can a prosecutor prove that you were driving under the influence of marijuana?
Chemical Tests Revealing the Presence of Marijuana
For alcohol-related DUI cases, there is a clear standard: you are guilty of DUI if you drive a vehicle with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08% or higher. Yet there is no standard for an amount of marijuana (or its main active ingredient, THC) which is automatically a DUI violation.
When you drive in California, you are said to have consented to chemical tests to determine the presence of alcohol or drugs in your system if you are lawfully arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Chemical tests can determine the presence of THC in your bloodstream, indicating that there is some marijuana in your system. However, these tests are inherently unreliable because they do not reveal (1) when you used or consumed marijuana, (2) how much marijuana you used or consumed or (3) whether the amount of marijuana in your system impaired your ability to drive.
No matter how much THC is present in your blood sample, a prosecutor can introduce other evidence to prove that your mental or physical ability to drive was impaired due to marijuana. This may include observations of how you were driving, how you looked, how you performed on field sobriety tests and whether you had any marijuana or drug paraphernalia with you. Evidence that you were not driving safely is likely the strongest possible evidence that your driving was impaired by the use of marijuana.
Defending Against DUI Marijuana Cases
A skilled San Bernardino DUI lawyer can mount several important defenses to a driving under the influence of marijuana charge. One of the most straightforward ways to defeat a DUI marijuana charge is by challenging the reliability of any chemical test taken.
Blood and urine tests for THC levels are not necessarily an accurate reflection of your level of impairment. THC is stored in your fatty tissues, and can be detected in blood samples for as long as two days after you last used it. Urine tests are even less accurate, because what they detect (THC metabolites) can be detected in urine up to four weeks after marijuana was used or consumed. Even if your chemical test showed that you had THC in your system, your San Bernardino DUI lawyer can argue that you were no longer high when you drove. Because these chemical tests do not reveal when you actually consumed or used marijuana, this is a strong potential defense to the charge.
Your attorney may also argue that even if you had used marijuana before driving, your driving was not impaired. Remember that the law requires the prosecutor to prove not only that you had drugs in your system, but that the drugs impaired your physical or mental abilities to such an extent that you were unable to drive with the caution of a sober person. There is no consensus on how marijuana affects a person’s ability to drive. This means that even if the prosecutor can prove that you were high when you were driving, it does not necessarily mean that you were impaired.
Having an experienced San Bernardino DUI lawyer can often make the difference between a conviction for DUI marijuana and having the charges reduced or dismissed. Contact the Chambers Law Firm today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to learn more about how we can help you if you’ve been charged with driving under the influence of marijuana.
