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posted on 11/19/17

Mostly because it is 100% legal, relatively inexpensive, and easy to purchase, alcohol-related DUIs will probably always constitute the majority of DUI cases. In many jurisdictions, however, drug-related DUIs are almost as common.

When they go to trial, DUI-drug cases present their own unique kinds of issues. If the defendant submits to a breath or blood test, and most do, the prosecutor can use the DUI law’s per se section to prove intoxication without any additional evidence. Even in the absence of such tests, alcohol’s intoxicating effects are very well known. There is no Breathalyzer test for drugs and there is also no consensus as to the impairing effects of many of these substances.

Presence of Drugs

In some cases, a per se law is available. Under Section 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(6), the prosecutor need only prove the presence of drugs. Either direct evidence, like a blood or urine test, or circumstantial evidence, such as track marks on an arm or drugs recovered from a car, may suffice.

Most of the prohibited substances are listed in the Controlled Substances Act. The list includes a variety of illegal “street drugs,” like heroin, LSD, and cocaine.

Marijuana, which is legal for medicinal purposes in Illinois but illegal for recreational purposes, is a special case. With regard to other CSA drugs, the prosecutor must only establish that, beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant had at least trace amounts of the drug in his or her system. Amount is completely irrelevant. With regard to marijuana, however, the defendant must have at least five nanograms of THC. There is considerable debate as to whether this measurement has any scientific basis or even if that much THC, which is much less than one joint, is impairing. But, that is the law, at least for now.

Impairment

Section 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(5) is the circumstantial evidence section, which is used almost exclusively in prescription drug cases. It is not illegal to take prescription pain killers and not even necessarily illegal to abuse them, but it is illegal to get behind the wheel if the medication “renders the person incapable of safely driving.” As with alcohol, prosecutors generally use the field sobriety tests to determine impairment. These tests are only a few of the

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