Articles Tagged with Prescription Drug DUI

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One out of every eight Americans or 40 million people in the USA has a Xanax or Alprazolam Prescription.   What you need to know before you get behind the wheel.”  

Recently the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) issued a media release about a motorist in Maricopa County, being sentenced to 16 years in prison, as a result of a fatal DUI crash.  The accident killed a 13 year-old, and critically injuring four others in Phoenix AZ last year.  The driver was convicted of second degree murder, endangerment, aggravated assault and other serious criminal charges. The driver was found to be impaired, under the influence of a prescription drug, Alprazolam (Brand name Xanax).

Cause of the Driver’s Impairment in this DUI Case

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In Arizona, a motorist can be arrested for DUI even if their blood alcohol content is below the legal limit of 0.08 percent or if they have had no spirituous liquor at all. Any DUI in Arizona is a criminal offense and subject to serious penalties including jail time, and suspension or loss of driver’s license. A conviction carries criminal and civil charges. Any DUI conviction in Arizona can potentially result in adverse collateral consequences for a person, including loss of their job, driving privileges, residency, and other freedoms they had prior to being convicted of a DUI.

Under Arizona Law A.R.S. 28 – 1381 it is unlawful to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle, if a person is “impaired to the slightest degree” due to any drugs, alcohol, or combination, thereof. This year, Drug DUI charges constituted 14 percent of the total annual impaired driving arrests. Arizona officials reported that many of those were the result of driving impairments caused by prescription drugs.

This law applies to any toxic drug and includes “prescription-only drugs”, as well as over-the- counter drugs, illegal drugs, narcotics, Medical Marijuana or dangerous drugs.

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