Is Having a Prescription a Valid Defense to a Drug-Related DWAI or DUI?

For many residents of the Denver area, certain prescription medications make it possible to focus on work, to deal with ongoing pain, and other matters. Yet driving while using certain types of medications — even if you have a valid prescription for them — can result in charges for driving while ability impaired (DWAI) or driving under the influence (DUI), commonly known as a DUI of drugs (or DUID) in Colorado. Indeed, although some states allow motorists to use having a valid prescription as a defense against DUI charges, Colorado is not among those states. Accordingly, if you are facing DUID charges in relation to your prescription medication use, it will be essential to build a different defense strategy with your Denver DUID defense attorney.

What Kinds of Prescription Medications Can Result in DUID Charges?

You may be wondering if you can actually face DUID-related charges simply for taking your prescription medication. To be clear, not all prescription drugs can result in DUID charges. In order for criminal charges to be brought against you, the prescription medication either must result in the drug affecting you “to the slightest degree” such that you are less able than you normally would have been, without using the drug, to “exercise clear judgment, sufficient physical control, or due care in the safe operation of a vehicle” (for a DWAI) or must result in you being affected to the degree that you are “substantially incapable . . . to exercise clear judgment, sufficient physical control, or due care in the safe operation of a vehicle” (for a DUI).

There are many prescription medications that can have an impairing effect, but there are also many that do not. Common types of prescription medications that can impair a driver and result in a DUID include but are not limited to:

• Adderall and other types of stimulants to treat ADHD;
• Certain types of antidepressants;
• Some pain medications;
• Some antihistamines used to treat allergies; and
• Certain types of cold and flu medications.

Developing a Strong Defense to a DUID

While it is not a defense to a DUID that you had a valid prescription for the drug you were using, our DUID defense lawyers can help you to develop a strong DUID defense based on the facts of your case.

Contact a Denver Drug DWAI and DUI Defense Attorney for Help Defending Against the Charges You Are Facing

Were you recently charged with a DWAI or DUI because you were impaired by or under the influence of a medication for which you have a valid prescription? Unfortunately, having a valid prescription for a medication that resulted in DWAI/DUI charges, commonly known as DUI-D charges when the impairing or intoxicating substance was a drug, is not a defense to the charges you are facing in Colorado. This does not mean that you do not have options, however. Our experienced Denver DUI defense attorneys at DeChant Law regularly represent clients in DUID cases who have been arrested and charged based on a prescription medication that they are taking lawfully, and there are a range of defense strategies that may be applicable to your case. Do not hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss the details of your arrest and possible defense options. We are here to help. Contact our firm today to get started on your DUID defense.

Source:

law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-42/regulation-of-vehicles-and-traffic/article-4/part-13/section-42-4-1301/