Prescription Drugs DUI

Another common Ventura County DUI results from driving after taking prescription medication. The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office routinely prosecutes people for the 21352(a) count who have no alcohol whatsoever in their systems, but do take medication for pain or anxiety or sleep disorders or any of a number of other valid uses. Unfortunately, many of these medications can affect your ability to drive a vehicle safely, and most people are surprised to learn that they can be charged for DUI in Ventura County when they have just taken their prescription medication. However, an experienced Ventura County DUI attorney knows how to use the fact that, unlike with alcohol, there is no set legal limit as to when you are impaired by your prescription medication. The mere fact that the medication shows up in your blood test is not enough for the prosecution to establish that you are guilty of a DUI in Ventura County, as they also must prove what you took, how much you took of it, when you took it, and that the drugs are legally impairing your driving.

Additionally, the training that most officers receive in Ventura County DUI investigations typically involves alcohol, and the standardized Field Sobriety Tests they are trained to administer also concern alcohol. An experienced Ventura County DUI attorney knows that there are other methods for officers to use to determine whether or not you are impaired by prescription drugs, and knows how to fight the prosecution’s efforts to use your performance on the FSTs against you. For more information on the standardized Field Sobriety Tests, please click here. Lastly, the breath machines used by the officers in a Ventura County DUI investigation only detect the presence of alcohol. If you did not do a blood (or urine) test, then any prescription drugs you may have taken will not show up in your test results. If you did give a blood test, and your alcohol level comes back above a .08%, there is a good chance that your blood will not be analyzed for any other substances, unless of course you admitted to taking them. However, because the Ventura County District Attorney’s office prosecutes DUIs so overzealously, you may occasionally be prosecuted for the (a) count in a Ventura County DUI based in part by your own admission of having taken prescription drugs. Having an experienced Ventura County DUI attorney who knows how these cases are prosecuted is essential if you want to have any chance of winning your case.