Most people know that driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) is a crime. What few recognize, however, is that driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) is also a punishable Scranton, Pennsylvania DUI crime, as well as a crime in all 50 states.
How states structure their DUID laws varies. In some states, law enforcement and prosectors must demonstrate that your illicit drug use caused impairment in order to convict you of DUID. In other states, a blood test is used to determine whether you meet a predetermined per se standard for DUID; having a prescribed level of a drug or its metabolite in your system renders you guilty. Since toxicologists and researchers have not been able to agree on what constitutes appropriate per se levels, however, some states have enacted zero tolerance laws which make drivers with any amount of illicit drugs or their metabolites in their systems automatically guilty of DUID - you can be convicted even if you were sober at the time of your arrest.
Pennsylvania's law is the middle kind: a per se law. Chapter 38, Section 3802(d) of our vehicle code sets out specific conditions that render a driver guilty of DUID. If you need aScranton drug crime lawyer to defend you against DUID charges or any other Scranton, Pennsylvania DUI or drug crime, then contact a Scranton drug crime attorney at Rogan Law today.