Ordinarily, prescription pain and anxiety medications state in print on the bottom not to “operate heavy machinery and not to drive” but folks do anyway. When many drivers think of ‘drugs,’ they think meth, cocaine or heroin. It’s not. It’s prescription drugs is the new California DUI problem, say San Diego drunk driving criminal defense attorneys.
How do we know? Drivers tested – in higher numbers – positive for drugs, particularly marijuana, more so than for alcohol during a recent California survey, San Diego DUI lawyers report.
DUI driving risks are in TV commercials and conveyed by school assemblies. Now California officials say “DUI – drugs” driving is the new danger. DUI Drugs Driving was previously not recognized in California, say attorneys who handle these cases.
It’s now Thanksgiving holiday meaning California DUI cops are out to catch drivers. More people die on the road during Thanksgiving than during any other major holiday but New Year’s. There’s a new wave of motorists.
Late-night California motorists were recently waved down for a survey, during 2 weekends this summer. For $20, thirteen hundred anonymous motorists gave an interview, a puff of breath, a saliva sample. 1 out of every 7 motorists had illegal or prescription drugs in their system, according to a survey in California, DUI lawyers say.
Fourteen percent of tested drivers had at least one drug in their system. Marijuana turned up in more than half those positive tests; the rest were split evenly between illegal drugs and prescription or over-the-counter medications that could impair driving. The marijuana tests looked only for an active ingredient called THC that dissipates within a few hours, not for other marijuana markers that can linger for weeks and would have skewed the results.