DUID Attorney in Las Vegas

Drugged Driving Laws in Nevada

Driving under the influence is not a charge limited to just alcohol consumption, it also applies to drug use. In Nevada State law, driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) is the criminal act of operating a motor vehicle while any sort of substance or combination of substances limits your ability to drive safely. The vagueness of the crime’s definition may be the reason you have been charged with a DUID, as it is entirely possible you did not know the substance you took was inhibiting your ability to drive, or you do not believe it had at all.

Substances that can be related to a DUID include:

• Medical marijuana
• Sleep aids
• Over-the-counter painkillers
• Cold and flu medicine

The law is broad enough to encompass virtually any sort of drug. If it is ingested, inhaled, or injected and contains a chemical, poison, or solvent, and you are showing signs of unnaturally reduced vehicle control skills, the substance’s presence can be enough to slam you with a DUID charge in Nevada.

What is the Zero Tolerance Law?

Part of a DUID charge’s argument against you is that you were inhibited in some way by a substance that made it dangerous for you to drive. This limitation of your abilities is not always necessary to charge and convict you, though. There are certain substances in Nevada that fall under the “zero tolerance” law, or that are illegal to have in your system while behind the wheel beyond a certain amount, regardless of whether or not you were actually impaired by it.

The zero tolerance law uses either blood or urine samples to determine how much of a drug is in your system at the time of your arrest. As the implied consent law in Nevada allows a police officer to use “reasonable force” to make you take a chemical test, it is likely that you will have to submit to some sort of chemical testing if you are arrested for a DUID.

Common substances that fall into the zero tolerance threshold and their limits include:

1. Cocaine: 150 urine/nanograms or 50 blood/nanograms
2. Marijuana: 10 urine/nanograms or 2 blood/nanograms
3. Amphetamines: 500 urine/nanograms or 100 blood/nanograms

To put those numbers into some perspective, a nanogram is one-billionth of one gram. Looking at the marijuana example, you could be charged with a DUID if there are just two billionths of a gram of marijuana substance in a single blood sample. That amount is so incredibly microscopic, it should not be accepted as evidence of your alleged impairment.

Las Vegas Criminal Defense Attorney

The punishments for a DUID conviction in Nevada will be similar, if not exactly the same, as a standard DUI with alcohol. A first offense may hit you with six months in jail, $1,000 in fines, license revocation, and more. Keep in mind that this is only discussing the act of driving while impaired by drugs. You could also be facing charges for possessing the drugs themselves if they are found to be illegal, which would bring a new set of penalties your way.

In order to protect your future wellbeing from the heavy hand of the law, you should allow a Las Vegas DUI attorney from the Law Office of David R. Fischer to represent you. With a Master’s in Dispute Resolution, Mr. Fischer has become a trusted name in the Nevada criminal defense scene, as is backed up by our long list of appreciative testimonials from clients we have successfully represented in the past.