When you are facing DUI drug charges in Georgia, you are going to need an efficient lawyer going to bat for you in court. At the Law Offices of Richard S. Lawson, we are Georgia's preeminent DUI defense law firm. For nearly twenty years, our founding attorney Mr. Lawson has helped more than 4,000 Georgians retain their driver's license despite the DUI charges they were up against. Wouldn't you want to have someone with a proven track record to represent you in your DUI drug case? As a former prosecutor, attorney Lawson has the knowledge and experience to aggressively defend your DUI drug case.

Did you know that the number of alcohol-related DUI arrests have actually decreased in recent years as the number of DUI drug related arrests has increased? Why is this? There are a few contributing factors, one of them being our growing elderly population that relies on medications for health management. The other reason is the ever increasing rate of people taking daily medications for muscle aches, ADHD, anxiety, insomnia and depression to name a few. Naturally, as more people are medicated, so is the pool of people that can get arrested for driving under the influence of drugs.

Challenging Prescription Drugs & DUI Charges in Georgia

The recent trends have shown that police officers have been expanding their assessments of impaired drivers to include those who are under the influence of a legal or illegal drug. Although most people are aware that it's against the law to drive while under the influence of marijuana or another illicit drug, many of them are completely taken off guard when they find out they can be arrested for driving under the influence of their lawfully prescribed medication, or an over-the-counter allergy or cold medicine.

At present, police officers have a substantial amount of freedom to assess peoples' level of impairment from drugs. This is a cause for concern because as of this writing, there are no studies quantifying any illegal or legal drug use with any driving impairment level. What's more, the standardized field sobriety tests that are performed by police officers aren't designed to detect impairment from drugs. In fact, only a very small percentage of law enforcement personnel are trained in detecting if someone is under the influence of an illegal or legal drug to the extent that it affects their ability to drive.

Unlike alcohol-related DUI cases where there is a known and measurable level of impairment, with a DUI drug case, no quantitative amount of any drug or substance creates a known level of impairment. Even crime lab witnesses and toxicologist aren't at liberty to state that prescription medication found in someone's system could impair their driving ability. Since this is a new area of law that is rather unrefined, it's beneficial to the defense.

DUI drug cases are far more difficult to prove than alcohol-related cases. At the Law Offices of Richard S. Lawson, we make it our business to stay abreast of all recent developments in DUI laws and how they pertain to drugs. We have extensive experience handling these types of cases and we would be pleased to assist you in your DUI drug case. The Law Offices of Richard S. Lawson can defend your case and your right to drive.