Legal Prescription Drugs That Can Cause You to Get a DWI

Most arrests made on DWI or driving while intoxicated is usually the result of illegal drugs or alcohol. However, there are legal prescription drugs you can buy over the counter that can also result in impaired driving which leads to possible arrest.

While a State generally punishes a person who was driving while intoxicated, it does not purely limit to those on illegal drugs and alcohol. A person impaired by over the counter legal drugs can also be found just as guilty as someone driving under the influence. The law in Massachusetts, for instance, specifically states some of the drugs resulting in impairment including depressants, narcotic drugs and other similar substances. The law in California also states that if a person is charged with driving under the influence and is on a legal drug that resulted in impairment, the state will not go about making a defense case for the individual. California also singles out methodone which is used to treat addiction to heroin, but all other drugs are fair play. It is possible that as much as illegal drugs lead to impairment, so do legal drugs.

At the moment, the levels of drugs that can be in the system of someone without resulting in impairment have not been standardized. For alcohol it specifies the standard level in your blood is 0.08%. This issue is set to receive proper attention in the future because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has voiced its concern about the use of drugs while driving and the effect it can have on one’s thinking. According to reports released in 2009, they found that there was a decrease in drunk driving, while up to 16% of drivers indicated that they have drug impairment in their system. This potential impairing lead them to study and conclude that it was not the effect of illegal drugs only, but over the counter prescription drugs such as sedatives, stimulants, narcotic analgesics and antidepressants were also equally capable of resulting in impairment.