DUI Drugs
DUI-DRUGS: Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (marijuana or other drugs)
While Colorado has legal medical marijuana and legal recreational marijuana, it is still illegal to drive a vehicle while impaired or under the influence of marijuana or any other drug. Having said that, many people get charged with Driving under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) who are not actually driving impaired or under the influence.
Colorado has adopted the “permissive inference” standard to the presence of THC in the blood. If you have submitted to a test of your blood and the results show a 5 nanogram level per milliliter of blood in your system it gives rise to a permissible inference that you were under the influence of marijuana when the blood was taken. Colorado law allows you to fight that inference by showing that you were not in fact under the influence or that the testing was flawed. This makes it even more important for you to NOT submit to any voluntary roadside or other testing as those results can and will be used against you to show impairment.
There are other drugs which can be detected in your blood and for which you can be charged with a DUID. Common drugs are Xanax, Percocet, Ambien, Adderall, and other depressant and amphetamine class drugs. Even if you have a prescription, you can be charged; though there are very effective defenses to fight a DUID prescription drug charge.
Some ways Ann Toney PC, DUI Defense Law Firm can fight for you if you are charged with a DUID:
- Have your blood sample tested by a private laboratory, Rocky Mountain Instrumental Laboratories (RMIL). This testing will do many things. One thing is that we now have your blood vial and can see if it was properly labeled, sealed, and recorded.
- RMIL is an excellent facility and when they test your blood the results are accurate and can be used to challenge the blood test results from the government should there be inconsistent results.
- When any laboratory tests your blood we ask for the Blood Litigation Packet. This report discloses to us how your blood was actually tested. We see if the laboratory used the proper protocols and controls when testing your blood for drugs or ethanol. While the government may have a test result for you, it is critical that it is an accurate test result.
- We review the government employees who actually did the testing of your blood. We look at their training and the “chain of custody” of your blood by the employees. In the past there have been some issues regarding the employees at certain laboratories and this is another area to review insuring you have the very best defense.
- While many people are familiar with the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST), there also was as test formulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to test for drug consumption. The Drug Recognition Evaluator/Expert (DRE) was implemented by NHTSA for law enforcement to test a driver for drugs. Ann Toney has completed the NHTSA DRE certification course and will review these results should you have submitted to that test. Either the use of SFST or DRE can both be challenged in court.