DUI drugs (DUID) cases are on the rise in West Virginia, as more and more citizens make the decision to drive after taking either their prescription medications, or illegal drugs like marijuana and methamphetamine, or “meth.” While DUI alcohol is still the most common impaired driving offense across the state, prescribed drugs DUI has experienced a definite upward trend. Drug impaired driving will only get worse.
WV DUI drugs lawyer Harley Wagner knows WV DUI drugs law very well. A new DUI drugs bill went into effect on June 1, 2013, and its purpose was to expand the implied consent notice to include drivers suspected of driving under the influence of controlled substances such as marijuana, cocaine, heroine, meth, and prescription drugs like opiates and benzodiazepines. Over the counter medications can also impair an unsuspecting driver.
WV police can detect drug impairment through a blood test that is given after a person is arrested. This DUI blood test is either given at a medical facility, or at police headquarters. But it is much harder for police officers to detect drug impairment than it is for alcohol impairment. That is why police agencies across West VA are spending money on better drug impaired driving detection training for their arresting officers, because DUI drugs arrests are only going to climb higher.
If you refuse to take this official blood test, you face the consequences of a DUI refusal, the harshest penalty being loss of your driver’s license for one (1) year.
When you are issued a West VA driver’s license, you automatically give your implied consent to be tested for the presence of alcohol or drugs through the use of a breath test, blood test, or urine test. After you are handcuffed by the arresting officer, it is the officer’s legal duty to read the implied consent notice to you.
If the officer fails to do read the implied consent advisement to you, Harley Wagner may be able to get your breath, blood, or urine test results excluded from evidence, and that is a huge advantage.
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