MARIJUANA & DUI
A marijuana DUI can occur regardless of a persons level of impairment. The Illinois DUI statute makes it illegal to be in control of a motor vehicle while any amount of illegal drug is in your system. It is the drugs presence within the body that completes the crime of marijuana DUI, not being under the particular drugs influence at the time. Therefore, anyone who drives with marijuana in their system commits a marijuana DUI. Impairment is not relevant. Marijuana is a unique drug in that the human body can retain it for approximately 30 days.
A misdemeanor DUI charge can be upgraded to a felony in limited circumstances. In any accident where great bodily harm or death is involved, the police may obtain a urine sample. If the test result is positive, that person can be charged with a marijuana DUI. If a proximate cause of the accident was that persons own negligence, he/she can then be charged with a felony DUI where a sentence to the Illinois Department of Corrections is possible.
That is the harshness of Illinois’ marijuana DUI law. Smoke a joint on the 1st day of the month, blow a stop sign on the 20th day of the month where someone gets seriously hurt, and you may be on your way to a felony conviction, a license revocation, and a prison sentence. You may have been stone, cold sober. It does not matter.
The more typical marijuana DUI, though, is when the police make an ordinary traffic stop and notice an odor of cannabis. Unless the police obtain a urine or blood test by consent, they must prove impairment. Marijuana impairment can be much more difficult to prove than DUI impairment. If a person refuses to provide a urine or blood test, which is their right in this circumstance, it may be difficult to prove this type of marijuana DUI.
Contact marijuana dui defense lawyer Steven Haney with any questions regarding any DUI case being prosecuted against you in Joliet, Will County, Illinois.
