Are there standard levels to test for impaired driving when one is under the influence of drugs other than alcohol in the various United States? Once in awhile you hear someone charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of a drug, but how do they tell that? Is it just the officer’s wild guess?
It can’t be a matter of passing a standard drug test, as the difference in the amount of drugs you have to take to be high versus failing a drug test range from the very large (Opiates) to the ridiculously large (Methadone, Marijuana).
Not entirely true- there are several techniques that can be used to help determine if someone has been using illegal drugs. These include horizontal & vertical gaze nystagmus, convergence, pupil size & reactivity, and the romberg stand/internal clock. While you can’t determine if someone used say, meth specifically, you can determine that they’re showing symptoms typically seen with stimulant use.
Methadone is an opiate IIRC. Regardless, the range actually isn’t very wide, except for marijuana. It’s generally two to four days from last usage for everything else (with a few exceptions, like crank, which IIRC is more like 3-6 days). Marijuana itself has a ridiculously wide range, and a drug test is more likely to tell you how often the driver uses it (if even that) than how much he used that day. The more troublesome drugs in the context of driving–psilocybin and LSD–are not easily detectable if at all. The effect of other drugs on driving is dubious if you ask me. Studies have shown marijuana to be less impairing than wine–I used to be able to cite that study at the drop of a hat, but I don’t have access to it anymore. The one I’m thinking of is from a university in Amsterdam, although there are others. Cocaine and amphetamines might make a driver more aggressive but certainly won’t slow his or her reaction time. The opiates are probably troublesome, but they’re so widely prescribed that it’s probably not worth the bother to sift out the heroin addict from the guy who’s been taking Endocet for wisdom tooth post-op pain. Nevermind that whole poppyseed bit.
So how do you fight this battle in the War on Drugs? The same way you fight all the others: Throw a blanket over it and call the whole thing criminal.
FWIW, Arizona law says that the body is a container, such that having any amount of alcohol or other drug in your blood, urine, brain, etc. is equal to having that drug in your pocket, ie, unlawful possession.
The unfortunate thing about this–as well as the “dry tongue” test I’ve seen in Arizona–is that you don’t have to be high to experience nystagmus, big/small pupils or a strange sense of time. However, I don’t have any idea how many people have these things when they’re not high–and how many of those people are legally licensed to drive.
Some officers will attend training specifically for identifying characteristics of persons under the influence of controlled substances. Their opinion in court is as a legal professional in the matter.
With regard to DUI, if a DUI officer determines that you are “under the influence” after displaying multiple clues during field sobriety exercises, it is not very relevant at that time what the chemical is. You are “under the influence” of some kind of drug or alcohol, that’s enough. Keep in mind, also, that the .o8 or .05 limit for alcohol is just prima facia evidence of intoxication. It is a seperate issue from your performance during field sobriety exercises.
So if you have one beer and you’re pegging the scale at .02, but you can’t balance or think straight after one beer, you are impaired and you can be arrested.
The .08 is not a mandatory level of intoxication. Actual impairment OR .08 BAL can get you convicted of DUI.
A very salient point. Without wishing to buy into the moral or ethical aspects of recreational drug abuse, in the interests of fairness it has to be noted that the US Airforce (and many others around the world) routinely prescribe clinically measured doses of amphetamines to pilots who are going on long missions so that they are ensured of vital alertness. If it’s good enough for a trained pilot to land a $40 Million fighter jet, there’s merit in doing an unbiased survey I rather think.
Actually, methadone is an Opioid, because it is an Opioid-site agonist, but is not an opiate, because it is not sufficiently chemically related to morphine. That’s why the tolerance level for drug tests for it is lower (scroll down 75%) - it’s easy to isolate versus the other opioids and it is impossible that it got into your system through eating poppy seeds.
Interesting! If true, at least that’s more reassuring than a wild-ass guess by someone with no training.
in high school i was the passenger in a car when we were pulled over for speeding, and the officer was convinced that we had been smoking pot. he was preparing to take the driver to jail for being “impaired” when luckily for us he was called away to an emergency. neither the driver nor i had consumed any illegal drugs that day, and there wasn’t anything illegal in the car.
the officer was kind enough to stop at the driver’s parents’ house the next day and tell them that he had found us using marijuana (which i guess was better than getting a DUI for driving completely sober).
I just want to highlight these statements because they are absolutely true (at least here in Florida) and many people aren’t aware of them. My mother is a DUI instructor and she has made this case to me and to her students over and over. If the officer thinks you are under the influence, even if you’ve had nothing stronger than cough syrup, you can still be charged.
I also have a friend who got a DUI but only blew a .04. That’s half the legal limit but he was arrested and had to pay the penalties. The penalties change depending on your BAC in Florida. Blowing a .2 and up will get you a much harsher sentence than a .08
Wow. This is the first time I’ve heard of this. How do they establish that your body is an “open” container? After all, it is impossible for you to dispense alcohol or marijuana. It seems like your body could only be considered a “sealed” container. Or is it illegal to transport beer in your car? If any container has to be in the trunk, does that mean if you’re picking up a drunk friend (to keep him from driving) you can be arrested unless you put him in the trunk?
Has anyone ever challenged this law?