When you operate a motor vehicle, you need to be aware of what is happening on the roadways around your vehicle. You also need to be able to react appropriately when there is an obstacle or something else that requires you to take action. Using drugs before you drive carries the possibility that you won’t be able to react in a safe manner. That is the reason why New Jersey and other states have made driving under the influence of drugs an illegal act.
It is important to understand that drugged driving can be the result of using illegal drugs or taking medications. There are some prescription drugs that can affect your ability to drive safely. There are also some over-the-counter drugs that can also have an impact on that ability.
If you are charged with drugged driving, you should explore your defense options, which might include calling the results of testing to determine the drugs in your system at the time of your arrest into question. This is partly because the components of drugs can linger in your system long after the effects of the drugs are gone.
In some cases, the cause you were pulled over for when you were suspected of driving drugged might also be a component of your defense strategy. For example, if you were driving safely, that might be used to show that there wasn’t a reasonable suspicion of impaired driving to cause the officer to initiate a traffic stop. You might even be able to use a combined point as your defense strategy.
Source: FindLaw, “Driving Under the Influence of Drugs,” accessed June 09, 2016
