Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis
Laws about cannabis have changed a lot during our lifetime, but the changes leave us with more questions than answers. Many state and local laws now reflect the public perception that cannabis is not a hard drug, that it has more in common with alcohol than with cocaine or heroin, that it can bring out people’s social or artistic side without putting them at high risk of overdose or of fatally dangerous behavior. This has led to state and local laws that contradict federal law. Cannabis remains a Schedule I controlled substance at the federal level, illegal in all recreational and medical settings. While Florida has not issued a statewide law decriminalizing cannabis possession, it does have a medical cannabis program with thriving enrollment. Participants in the medical cannabis program can legally possess small quantities of a wide variety of cannabis products for personal use. Besides this, several local governments, including those of Palm Beach County, Broward County, and Miami-Dade County, have issued laws decriminalizing small quantities of cannabis possession for personal use by all persons aged 21 or older. In other words, they treat cannabis as if it were in the same category as alcohol. Possessing cannabis in public is a civil infraction, like public drunkenness, and you just get a citation with a monetary fine, not criminal charges. Conversely, driving under the influence of cannabis is always a crime, even if you possess the cannabis legally. Here, our Miami drug crimes defense lawyer explains the laws about driving and cannabis intoxication and the legal ambiguities involved.
DUI Is a Crime, No Matter the Substance
From a legal perspective, driving while impaired by a psychoactive substance is a crime, and the penalties are the same, no matter what the substance is. Driving under the influence of drugs on one of the controlled substances schedules and driving under the influence of alcohol are equally dangerous, and the law treats them as such. If it is a first offense, and you do not cause an accident while driving while impaired, then there is a good chance that you can get your charges dropped by participating in a pretrial diversion program such as drug court or DUI court. An important difference between a traffic stop for drunk driving and a traffic stop for drugged driving is that, in the case of drugged driving, you run the risk of getting additional criminal charges such as drug possession or possession of drug paraphernalia.
It Is Against the Law to Drive Under the Influence of Legal Cannabis
If you get stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence of cannabis, it does not matter whether you purchased the cannabis legally. Handing the police officer your medical marijuana card in addition to your driver’s license and vehicle registration will not help your case. If anything, it will provide the state with more evidence that you are under the influence of cannabis, instead of, for example, just making driving mistakes because you are tired or hungry. It certainly will not help your case to point out that cannabis for recreational use has been decriminalized in South Florida.
Case in point, DUI is still DUI even if you bought the alcoholic beverage legally. Likewise, you can get criminal charges for impaired driving if you drive while under the influence of a prescription drug that causes drowsiness or interferes with your concentration, even if you have a valid prescription for the drug and have been taking it in a manner consistent with your doctor’s instructions.
But the Breathalyzer Says He Looks Like a Pothead
Breathalyzers to detect cannabis metabolites exist, but they are of limited usefulness for drunk driving cases. The body metabolizes alcohol quickly, so your blood alcohol content (BAC) rises quickly after you drink and then decreases at the rate of about one alcoholic beverage per hour. Therefore, Friday night’s drinking binge will not show up on a breathalyzer test administered on Sunday morning.
This is not the case with cannabis. The cannabis metabolites from a joint you smoked last month are still detectable on today’s breath test; this is especially true of habitual cannabis users. Therefore, breathalyzer tests can tell that you smoked weed, but they cannot tell when or how much. Furthermore, there is no legally defined limit for a cannabis metabolite concentration that counts as impairment. This ambiguity can work in your favor when defending yourself against charges of driving under the influence of cannabis.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you seek justice if you were charged with drugged driving. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Source:
flhsmv.gov/drivebakedgetbusted/
