Changes to DUI laws in California
Many Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys are expecting that the DUI law in California will change to be harsher on the drivers. The most likely changes, if they are to come, would be some combination of the following:
(1) making DUI crimes priorable for longer than the current 10 years priorability.
(2) making some level of THC in blood be a “per se” DUI – such as the case with alcohol where a .08% BAC is a DUI regardless of the level of intoxication.
(3) reducing the level of alcohol at which a driver is in violation of DUI laws lower than the current 0.08 percent. This possibility is based on many prosecutorial experts believing that most people’s attention and performance while driving is impaired at a level of .05% blood alcohol concentration or higher.
The trend in California and in the USA is to make DUI laws tougher. The last change came on July 26, 1990, when the level of permissible alcohol in blood was reduced from 0.10% or higher to the current 0.08% or higher. After that, the priorabilty was changed from 7 years to 10. Los Angeles DUI Attorneys think that we are due for another reduction in the legal level of alcohol or some other change in the law that will criminalize driving under the influence of marijuana or driving under influence of some other drug, such as meth.
For example, recently Colorado passed a law making a person guilty of a DUI when he has only 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. This law has very little basis in science because there is no direct correlation between blood THC and impairment. Also, because TCH stays in the blood for weeks, having THC does not show impairment at all (when compared to alcohol which leaves the body at a steady rate of about .1-.2 % BAC per hour). Also, many scientists think that the odds of being in a crash after smoking Marijuana are a lot less than after drinking alcohol. This might be related to the way Marijuana and alcohol affect most people, where Marijuana makes people mellow and alcohol makes them aggressive. The Federal government agency NHTSA seems to agree with this point of view.
Canada now has a device Drager DrugTest 5000 that tests for THC. However, it is very inaccurate and sometimes will say that you consume marijuana when you did not and also will say that you did not consume marijuana when you did.
Many jurisdictions currently prosecute marijuana DUI and DUI with a blood alcohol level of below .08%. If you are arrested in one of that jurisdictions, please call our experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney right away – we will defend you for an affordable fee and convince the prosecutor to dismiss your Los Angeles DUI.
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