What Is a Typical DUI Scenario Involving Prescription Medications?

There are generally two scenarios when someone gets a DUI by taking their prescribed medication: either they had taken too much of it on purpose or by mistake. Doctors often change prescriptions, so the person might end up on two or three different medications which would then interact so there would be a side effect that might create some impairment.

On the other hand, recreational drug users or drug addicts might be using illegal drugs or they might have an illegally-obtained prescription medication which they were high on which caused them to be impaired when driving.

How Often Do Drug Related Or Prescription Medication Related DUIs Happen?

Probably one in five cases of DUI would involve prescription medication. The difficulty is that the state is generally not as prepared to deal with those at the scene because they do not have any reliable drug test they could take at the scene like the preliminary breath test, or like the handheld test they have for alcohol. The field sobriety tests are specifically designed to determine the level of a person’s blood alcohol whereas they would not be appropriate for determining intoxication by other substances. Substance related impairment would generally be much harder for the state to prove.

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