Beyond Alcohol: This Study Shows Other Drugs Don’t Impact Driving As Expected

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As your DUI lawyer, I’m always searching for information that could be used to challenge DUI charges. A new study published in Forensic Science International has caught my eye, and it could have major implications for how we think about drug-impaired driving.

This study looked at how different drugs actually affect drivers in real-life situations. The results are surprising.

The researchers wanted to see if there’s a clear link between the amount of certain drugs in a driver’s system and how impaired they actually are. They specifically focused on four common drug groups: alcohol, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, and THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis). They used data from over 15,000 real-life DUI investigations in Norway, where drivers undergo a clinical test for impairment (CTI) and provide a blood sample. This is a unique and valuable dataset because it allowed researchers to compare blood drug concentrations with a standardized assessment of impairment.

Here’s where it gets interesting – the study found that while the link between blood alcohol concentration and impairment is strong, the same can’t be said for the other drugs.

Here’s a breakdown of the findings:

Alcohol: As expected, the higher the blood alcohol concentration, the more likely a driver was to be impaired. This supports what we already know about alcohol.

Benzodiazepines: There was a noticeable trend of increased impairment with higher concentrations of benzodiazepines in a person’s blood. However, there was also a lot of individual variation.

Amphetamines and THC: Here’s the shocker – the study found a very weak relationship between the concentration of these drugs in a driver’s system and how impaired they appeared to be.

What does this mean for you?

This study highlights a critical point: just because a drug is present in your system, even above the legal limit, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are actually impaired. This is particularly important for amphetamines and THC, where the study found that people with high concentrations of the drug in their system could still pass impairment tests.

Why the unexpected results?

The study suggests that individual tolerance and sensitivity to drugs could play a significant role. Think about it: people react differently to alcohol – some people get tipsy after one drink, while others can hold their liquor better. It seems the same could be true for other drugs, making it difficult to establish a one-size-fits-all impairment limit.

How can this help you in a DUI case?

This study provides strong evidence to challenge DUI charges, especially those involving drugs other than alcohol.
If you’re facing charges and believe your actual level of impairment was not consistent with the drug concentration found in your system, it is crucial to contact an experienced DUI lawyer. We may be able to use this study to argue that the presence of a drug above the legal limit does not automatically equate to impairment.

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