If your medicine affects your ability to drive, you may get a DUI
In California, there are two ways that you may be charged with driving under the influence (DUI). First, if your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is above the legal limit of 0.8% (lower for some drivers), you could be charged with what is known as a per se DUI. Second, if your ability to drive safely is affected by being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, then you may be charged with a DUI.
Many people are surprised to learn that you can get a DUI even if the “drugs” that you are on are prescription. As a DUI lawyer in Santa Ana, CA can explain, California laws don’t differentiate between legal and illegal drugs. If you are unable to drive safely because of your medicine, then you may be charged with a DUI. This includes prescription painkillers, such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet, Codeine, and other narcotic medications.
To convict you of a DUI of Drugs (DUID), a prosecutor must prove three things, known as elements of the crime:
- You drove a vehicle;
- While you were under the influence of narcotic prescription painkillers (or the combined influence of painkillers and alcohol or another drug), and
- The painkillers impaired your physical or mental abilities to such a degree that you could no longer drive in the way that an ordinarily cautious sober person would drive under similar circumstances.
In other words, if you take your medicine and it affects your ability to drive in a way that you would if you were sober, you could be charged with this crime. Again, law enforcement does not care if you are on prescription or illegal drugs for purposes of a DUID. If you can’t drive safely because you are impaired by drugs, then you may be charged with a DUI.
Prosecutors prove these charges through testimony from the arresting officer and potentially through the results of a chemical blood or urine test. For example, the police offer might testify that you drove erratically, and that when they pulled you over, you seemed drowsy, had constricted pupils, and low, raspy speech. Chemical test results might then confirm the presence of drugs in your system.
The penalties for a DUID are the same as for other types of DUIs. In most cases, it will be charged as a misdemeanor. The penalty for a first-time misdemeanor DUI (of drugs or alcohol) may include up to 6 months in county jail, a 6 to 10 months of license suspension, 3 to 9 months of mandatory drug/alcohol school, and steep fines and fees. Depending on the facts of your case and if you have any previous DUI convictions within the past 10 years, you could receive additional penalties or have the charge elevated to a felony.
If you have been prescribed painkillers to help you with a medical condition, you should follow the advice of your doctors in taking them — and avoid getting behind the wheel of a vehicle while under their influence. If you are charged with a DUI for being under the influence of painkillers, the Chambers Law Firm can help. Contact us today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free consultation with a DUI lawyer in Santa Ana, CA.
