Can you be convicted of dui without alcohol in your system in north carolina

Modified Transcript of “Can you be convicted of dui without alcohol in your system in north carolina” for the Hearing Impaired:

So often times, when we think about the culture of driving while impaired, in other states driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated, it always has this connotation of being alcohol related, and that is no longer the case.

Frankly, it’s never been completely the case, but the incidence of non-alcohol related impaired driving over the last, I’ll say 5, 6, 7 years, has changed the complete landscape as to how we deal with these, and what law enforcement officers look for when prosecuting people.

A few things to keep in mind; first, we have schedules of impairing substances in the state of North Carolina. That is not necessarily exclusive. It’s not a situation whereby if something is not on those lists, that something can’t be considered an impairing substance.

We have to be cognizant of anything in our system that may affect our ability to drive. When we’re representing clients, we have to make sure that we know what may affect them, and how it may affect them.

Secondly, so often times people think, “Well yes, I knew that you could be impaired on drugs and still be convicted of DWI, but didn’t it have to be street drugs?”

The answer to that is no.

In fact, I would say that over the last few years, the incidents of illicit drug related driving while impaired charges is far below that of the prescription drug impaired driving cases that we represent people on.

It’s difficult, because so often times you’re told by a medical professional, “Hey, this is something that is going to help you with X, Y or Z going on in your life.”

If it is something that, even taken in its lawful dosage, is something that is going to impair your ability to operate a motor vehicle, that does make you susceptible to the possibility of prosecution for DWI.

Chris McCartan
powersmccartan@gmail.com
www.powersmccartan.com
8 church street, concord, north carolina 28205
(704) 784-8028