Have You Been Arrested for Being Under the Influence of Marijuana?

DUI Marijuana officers love to charge people with DUI for driving under the influence of marijuana.  The typical scenario is this:  the officer conducts a routine traffic stop for an offense like failure to maintain lane or speeding.  The driver rolls down his window and the officer claims to smell marijuana.  This leads to further discussion and the officer claiming to see things consistent with being “high” such as red eyes, lethargic speech or nervousness.

Navigating DUI Drug Cases

Our Experience is the Difference:

Georgia Marijuana DUI Lawyer Richard Lawson has vast experience defending DUI Drug cases.  As a former DUI Prosecutor, Richard Lawson puts more than 25 years of experience to work for you. He is the co-author of a book on DUI Drugs.  Our office uses the experience of our attorneys and the expert witness you need to defend your DUI Marijuana case. Most attorneys assume guilty when they see a positive drug screen or test.  No one is automatically guilty and all cases have possible defenses.  Most prosecutors see it as their role to prosecute someone for the consumption of marijuana alone.  it is NOT illegal to have marijuana in your system while driving.

Do Police Officers Really Have Any Evidence of Impairment?

The officer will usually arrest for the driver and then request a blood test.  What is interesting is that in the state of Georgia, the blood tests that are sent into the crime lab are not routinely checked to determine if there is active metabolite.  The results will just come back and read positive or negative for THC.

However, having positive metabolites for marijuana does not mean you are impaired. Many so called DUI Lawyers in Georgia have no idea that a positive drug screen does not always mean that a person is impaired.  In the case of marijuana, there are active metabolites and inactive metabolites.  Most attorneys assume guilt, and nothing could be further from the truth.  

This is troubling as marijuana can remain in the system for weeks and have no psychoactive affect.   In addition, there have been few studies correlating even recent smokers of marijuana to impaired driving.  Many officers do not have the training and experience required to ascertain whether marijuana and other drugs impair a driver.

So the Accused May Have Marijuana in their System without it causing any impairment at all:

Like any drug, marijuana only causes a psychoactive affect for a short period if time.  Yet, a person who is pulled over by a police officer may still smell of the drug.  A police officer will then assume that the accused is under the influence.  Once that assumption is made, everything the officer does will be in pursuate of phantom evidence to prove the baseless assumption.  Once down that road, field sobriety tests (designed and validated for Alcohol-related DUI) will be used.

How about Field Sobriety Testing in Marijuana DUI Cases:

The field sobriety tests they use in an alcohol case are not as useful. These tests are are designed for ordinary alcohol DUI cases.  Yet, police officers attempt to use these tests to show impairment in DUI Drug cases.  There is absolutely no correlation between field sobriety testing in marijuana cases and impairment.

Hire an Attorney that Understands How to Defend Marijuana - Related Cases:

For all these reasons, a DUI-marijuana case is generally easier to win at trial than a DUI-alcohol case.  Of course, that presumes your Georgia DUI Lawyer understands how to defend DUI cases that involve marijuana or other drugs.  There are fertile grounds to attack a marijuana related DUI case.

Call our DUI lawyers today to see how we can help you get the best possible results on your DUI-marijuana case.  We are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because your problems do not take days off.