Question: My brother developed an opioid addiction from treating pain from playing football in college at the University of Georgia and because he was in a car accident about a year ago when he got rear-ended by some kid who was probably high. Now he needs a good DUI lawyer.
The doctor prescribed the medications for him and since he was in pain he took the drugs, like he was supposed. But they were not illegal, they weren’t illegal drugs like pot or cocaine or heroin or anything like that.
His medication did help him with the pain but the doctor never really explained to him that the drugs could cause him to get a DUI. The doctor just said that he should make sure he felt OK to drive a car after he started taking the meds.
Since he has to go to work, he drove there. That was his only way to get there and he wasn’t going to miss work, because if he did then he could get fired, and he likes his job.
So just about 2 weeks ago he was driving and he got into a fender-bender and when the cop came he admitted that he was on prescription drugs, the ones his doctor told him to take. He also said he had a couple of glasses of wine with his lunch.
He took a blood test because the cop asked him to and he thinks it’ll only show a little bit of alcohol and the drugs.
The police officer arrested him for DUI. Now I’m gathering information because I don’t think he should have gotten charged with DUI.
S.D. in Dunwoody
Answer: In the state of Georgia, a person can be charged with DUI even if they are only taking prescription medication. Indeed, there are many arrests made every year because someone was driving under the influence of legally prescribed drugs, not just “street drugs” like cocaine, marijuana or heroin.
Many people fail to realize that even prescription medications can cause a driver to be less safe, and thus they can be charged with a DUI. Prescription drugs can be just as potent as or even more potent than illegal drugs.
The results of your brother’s blood test will be important. Obviously, a high concentration of alcohol or drugs will be compelling evidence for the prosecution. And if they are mixed together, that can heighten the drugs’ effects on a person and it can be very dangerous.
In this case, we’d also like to see how your brother did on the field sobriety tests and we’d like to hear his speech on the video to see if it is slurred or not.
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