You weren’t at a party. You weren’t at a bar. You hadn’t even had anything to drink. You were just driving to the store for groceries, or maybe to pick up your child from soccer practice. Perhaps you feel just a little drowsy. A policeman pulls you over because he notices something unusual about your driving—or even an unrelated moving violation like a broken brake light. Before you realize it, you’ve been arrested on suspicion of DUI.
How did this happen?
The above scenario might seem like an anomaly, but it happens to people more often than you might think. Prescription drugs can impair your driving abilities in a number of different ways, from causing excessive drowsiness to affecting logic and motor skills. While the amount and influence if any drug in your system is difficult to measure (unlike alcohol content), California law does not differentiate: Driving under the influence of alcohol or any drug—legal or illegal—is against the law. If an officer believes you are impaired, you can be arrested. Period.