Marijuana DUI cases in Vista Courts are on the rise as they are statewide. With the passage of California laws legalizing recreational and medical marijuana, it will become an increasing issue on our highways. Just because it is now legal, doesn’t mean that it is legal to drive with it in your system if it impairs your ability to drive with the same care and caution as a sober person under similar circumstances. The same goes for any drug, prescription or not, with or without alcohol involved.
Marijuana and drug impairment for driving have not been studied as much as alcohol and there are not specific threshold chemical levels in many cases like alcohol. Marijuana DUI and drug DUI cases require a blood test to verify their presence and quantify the metabolites in your system. If alcohol is also present, this can magnify the impairment mentally and physically. As various roadside drug tests become available and more studies are done, it should ultimately make drug impairment enforcement and prosecution similar to alcohol. Presently, in addition to showing the drugs or marijauna present and quantified in the blood, the officers physical observations of driving, demeanor, appearance and mental/physical field sobriety tests are more important than in alcohol cases to back up a forensic opinion as to impairment.
It is very important to contact a DUI defense attorney if you are arrested for DUI to discuss possible defenses, resolutions and better understand the process and things you can do to help your attorney get the best resolution possible. Call the DUI Defense lawyers Nicholas and William Christoph at Christoph Law Offices at 760-941-5720 for a free consultation. We have been located across from Vista Courts for over 34 years, providing the highest level of DUI and Criminal Defense.
