DUI Drugs
In a DUI Drug case look at each case closely. The district attorney must prove more than you drove a car with a drug in your blood. Even if there was an accident involved in the case, look closely at the nature of the accident (single car, veering off-road, the road was unfamiliar to driver, or caused by another erratic driver).
Was anything taken with the drugs that may interfere with metabolism such as food or alcohol? Check the road conditions, weather, and other distractions that may have been the cause of the bad driving.
How long after the driving took place were biological samples (blood or urine) collected?
Glossary of Terms in DUI Drug Cases
Therapeutic Range: The concentration of a drug at which a person will experience the desired clinical effect with a minimum of undesirable or adverse reactions. There is no therapeutic range defined by drug manufacturer's for driving a car. Therapeutic ranges are defined for a therapeutic benefit such as pain relief. Most manufacturers warn against driving. There is no agreement on what the therapeutic range is for a given drug.
Absorption Phase: defined as the time required for the uptake of the drug across various barrier sites and into certain tissues.Depends on route of administration: Patch: very slow. Oral: slow. Inhalation. Faster. Injection: Fastest.
Distribution Phase: depends on several factors such as blood flow to the tissue, chemistry of the drug, molecular size and protein binding.
Elimination (Clearance) Phase: Most drugs are metabolized by the liver. Purpose is for excretion and detoxification. Excretion occurs in the kidneys, bile and lungs.
Half-Life: The amount of time it takes for the plasma concentration to decrease by 50%, given a first order process.
Steady State: The level at which the amount of drug absorbed is equal to the amount being eliminated. The level of drug achieved after several constant dosages at constant intervals. The therapeutic range is usually steady state, but not necessarily the other way.
If you have been arrested for DUI drugs, contact criminal lawyers who defend all DUI cases in court before the DMV.