Can You Be Arrested for Driving While High?
Even if Florida fully decriminalizes possession of marijuana, it will still be illegal to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana. Decriminalization is not going to have any effect on the police’s ability to arrest someone for a DUI. Just like possessing alcohol, it is legal to consume if you are of legal age, but you still cannot drive while under the influence. In other words: yes, you can be arrested for driving while high. But there are some unique aspects compared to drunk driving.
How Does the Medical Use of Marijuana Impact DUI Charges?
Even if somebody is lawfully prescribed medical marijuana, that still does not mean they can drive while they are high, so it would be treated as something closer to a prescription medication. Even if someone is prescribed Xanax, or if they are prescribed a narcotic or a painkiller by their doctor, and they are in lawful possession of it, they can still be charged with a DUI if they are impaired in any way.
So even if someone does have a medical marijuana card, a valid prescription, and they are in lawful possession of that drug, that does not mean they can drive while under the influence of marijuana.
Penalties of Driving While High
Marijuana DUI is prosecuted under the same statute as an alcohol DUI in Florida, and they are subject to the same penalties. For a first-time conviction, that can include a year of probation, a fine, a license suspension, and if convicted, community service and classes.
The only difference is the interlock device. For people who get an alcohol-related DUI and they blow nearly twice the legal limit, they are required by law to have a breathalyzer device in their car. For a marijuana DUI, the law does not require that. Unless the prosecution can prove that the defendant’s blood alcohol level was elevated, that requirement will not be triggered.
The penalties for a marijuana DUI will depend on the judge’s post-trial sentence following a guilty verdict, or the plea deal that an attorney works out with the prosecutors.
Contact an Attorney Who Defends People Arrested for Driving While High
The public’s perception of how to beat a DUI, or whether to blow or not blow, is limited to their experience with alcohol-related DUIs. It is more rare to come across a marijuana DUI, so motorists may not know whether they should submit to any testing.
It becomes even more important not to waive their right to a speedy trial in a lot of marijuana DUI cases. When they blow a breathalyzer in an alcohol related DUI, it prints out their blood alcohol level immediately. But when they provide a urine or a breath sample for weed, that must be sent out to a lab, and sometimes these labs can take one, two, or even three months to provide the results. If the state does not present or provide those results to the defense within a timely manner, that evidence could be inadmissible. With a marijuana DUI, it is even more important to hire an attorney who knows how to navigate those procedural rules, the laws, and a defendant’s constitutional rights.
Call The Umansky Law Firms’ criminal defense lawyers if you were arrested for driving while high.
