DUI Rundown: The Effects of Certain Drugs to Your Driving

It is known that most drugs whether they are prescription or illegal could cause impairment to anyone who is driving a vehicle. In retrospect, too much drug intake could cause DUI (Driving under the Influence) of drugs and this article here is to refresh your knowledge of the certain drugs to help you avoid being indicted of it the future.

Prescription drugs

Prescription drugs are drugs prescribed by medical professionals and can be taken from pharmacies. However, despite them being approved by doctors, prescription drugs can also result to addiction and a lot of people use doctor shopping just to get drugs that are not actually prescribed to them. This is a violation of Nevada prescription drug laws.

Here are some of the prescription drugs that could impair your system and cause driving under the influence of drugs:

• Benzodiazepine – An anti-anxiety drug, benzodiazepine could render a person drowsy, dizzy, and feeling tired. Common forms of benzodiazepine are Valium and Xanax.
• Painkillers – Codeine, hydrocodone, and Vicodin are painkillers that cause lightheadedness, constipation, and overall difficulty to concentrate when taken on an excessive amount.
• Sleeping pills – As their name, sleeping pills dozes off a person and while usually taken at night, its effects could last until the next day when you are driving.
• Decongestants – Pills, nose drops, and liquids that are used to treat cold or allergies can be detrimental to drivers as it could cause sleepiness, irritation, and high blood pressure.

Illegal drugs

The following drugs are illegal in the State of Nevada for its strongly addicting properties that could really affect someone’s ability to drive.

• Cocaine – Short terms effects of cocaine include extreme euphoria, nausea, hallucination, and psychosis.
• Methamphetamine – A psychostimulant drug, methamphetamine or meth produces intense ecstasy which is the typical reason for many arrests of driving under the influence of drugs.
• Heroin – With heroin, breathing and heartbeats are slowed and one’s mental presence becomes unsteady.
• Marijuana – While recreational marijuana is legal in Las Vegas and the rest of Nevada, you still cannot drive while using it.

 

How is drug impairment measured?

When a police officer asks you to pull over, they usually already have some suspicions that you were driving under the influence of drugs. Field sobriety tests and chemical blood alcohol tests are some of the procedures taken to find out if you are actually drug-impaired, and written in the Nevada Revised Statutes is the amount of drugs found in your urine and blood that would mean your incrimination.

 

What happens if charged for drugged driving?

A first DUI caused by drugs is a misdemeanor in Nevada. This imposes a jail time of up to six months and fines that should not exceed $1,000. A second and third offense within seven years is a felony and it does not matter if it is a mild prescription drug or a robust illegal drug that you have taken, you can still be penalized depending on the frequency and the scale of your DUI offense.

With the help of a DUI lawyer in Las Vegas, your drugged driving charges could be lowered to reckless driving or be acquitted altogether. Get in touch with one now today to quickly solve your dilemmas of driving under the influence of drugs!

What is Federal Drug Conspiracy in Nevada?

Conspiracy is when two or more people agree to a plot that is usually of sinister nature. This can apply to crimes, especially to drug crimes, where drug dealers can conspire to perform different violations like drug trafficking. Know that you do not have to have committed the planned crime to be charged with conspiracy, just simply agreeing to act will mean drug conspiracy while doing an overt act will entail a federal drug conspiracywhich is the charge we talk about more below.

Agreement, intent, and execution

For a drug conspiracy or general conspiracy to be proven by criminal justice attorneys, the offenders must have agreed in to doing the offense. They also must have the intent. The defendants only talking about the plot vaguely and not doing anything to show evident intention is not enough to render a drug conspiracy. For example, they must have a specific place in mind to traffic drugs or something similar. Usually, drug conspiracies also result in execution—the absolute requirement for defendants to be charged with the crime and the appropriate penalties based on the result of their execution.

A drug conspiracy becomes a federal drug conspiracywhen the defendants contrived to target the United States, its agencies, and other national bodies. For example, the defendants had conspired together to sell drugs in a federal-owned land or had travelled across state lines just to make a drug deal.

Overt act

Another move made by the defendants that could downright try them for federal drug conspiracy is the overt act. In a way, an overt act is a more concrete form of intent, meaning there is tangible or clear evidence that can be produced out of them. A particular example of an overt act is the conspiring people purchasing drug paraphernalia used for manufacture and eventual sale of illegal substances. You can consult your trusted criminal justice attorney for further information about the overt act.

Penalties of federal drug conspiracy in Nevada

The punishments the conspiring offenders will face for a federal drug conspiracyis considerably harsher than the ones found in a state drug conspiracy. According to the Section 371 of the chapter for conspiracy in the United States Code, anyone guilty of federal conspiracy “shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.” The properties of the convicted can also be seized and their financial accounts immobilized if they have done costly damages to the federal government.

If, however, the commission of the said conspiracy only resulted to misdemeanor, then what penalties are intended for misdemeanor charges should be the only consequences that must be imposed to the offenders.  

Federal drug conspiracyis a heavy violation to be convicted of. Enlist the help of criminal justice attorneys in Nevada to protect yourself from its hefty penalties!

The Best Defenses Against Drug Trafficking in Nevada

Drug traffickingis arguably the most serious crime out of all the drug-related offenses not just in Nevada but also in the rest of the country. This is because drug trafficking is, in a sense, a distribution of the very instrument that could cause addiction (and, eventually, other crimes) and, ultimately, death. When you are charged with drug trafficking, know that the penalties that could be brought down on you can be painful and might cost you more than what you could bear. For example, having at least 400 grams of drugs found in Schedule II is a category A felony which entails a prison term of 15 years to life-imprisonment.

To avoid this, here are some fundamental defenses that you can study with your criminal defense lawyer.

The drugs do not belong to you

Substances that are not yours cannot be used to incriminate you. Backed by strong evidences, you can state in the court that the drugs belong to other people, a friend, a family, or someone you do not know. 

For example, you were driving a vehicle crossing states where cocaine is stashed in the dashboard compartment. Your denial that the drugs is not yours and you have no knowledge of it being in the car can be justified if you do not own the car and just happened to drive it during the day for some reason.

Unlawful search and seizure

Police misconduct can be used as a defense for drug traffickingin Nevada. It is unlawful for police officers to suddenly disrupt your walking or driving using excessive force as well barging into your home without proper search warrant. This is one of the most effective defenses you can use and can benefit you greatly if utilized well.

You were under duress

Sometimes, defendants of drug traffickingviolation are well aware of what they are doing but cannot do anything to stop it because their lives or other people’s lives are at risk. One example is a person kidnapped and ordered by a group of drug traffickers to act as a drug courier. If they refuse or run away, their lives or their family’s lives will be in danger. If this is your case, you have a good chance of being acquitted. 

Entrapment

Not dissimilar to unlawful search and seizure, entrapment is when the police trick someone into committing a crime. Planting drugs in their car and then following them around to seize them on what could be an “unsuspecting” time can be considered as entrapment.

Drugs do not weigh enough

For your offense to be considered as drug trafficking, the weight of the drugs you are alleged transporting must follow what the Nevada Drug Schedule had mandated. To illustrate: you were confronted by the police and then they found drugs in your pocket. For you to be arrested for drug trafficking, the drugs you were carrying must be at least 4 grams for Schedule 1, 28 grams for Schedule II, and 400 grams for Schedule III. 

When the weight of the drugs discovered on you does not reach the decreed range then you can only be charged with drug possession which has lesser penalties compared to a drug traffickingoffense. A third offense of drug possession will only give a year of prison term but would include fines that go up to $20,000. Still, that’s considerably better than the lowest drug trafficking offense. Read the complete version of the drug Schedules and the grams needed before you could be arrested for drug trafficking for reference.

Drug traffickingcharges, in spite of its stringency, can be avoided. All you need is a solid defense and a criminal defense attorneyt hat will effectively harness all your valid arguments.