Police in Pennsylvania, and especially around Harrisburg, have stepped up their enforcement of prescription drug DUIs:  Some common medications that people have been arrested for are:

• Ambien
• Prozac
• Valium
• Xanax
• Klonopin
• Oxycodone
• Methadone

Recent surveys indicate that American are taking more prescription drugs than ever.  Under Pennsylvania’s impaired driving laws, police can charge you with drugged driving (also called “DUI-D”), even if you’re taking a prescription drug under a valid prescription. That is because many prescription drugs can cause some sort of impairment.

Penalties for a Prescription Drug DUI

If you are convicted for a first offense DUI-D, the penalties include:

• a maximum jail time sentence of up to 6 months
• Fines up to $5,000
• 12-month license suspension

However, the consequences are more severe if you have a prior DUI offense.

Important point: Prescription drug DUI cases can be successfully challenged.  To do this, you need a lawyer who knows about the complex science behind these cases.  Most attorneys simply do not have this specialized knowledge and training to successfully challenge a DUI-D case, particularly when the drug is a prescription medication.

Below are few questions that must be asked in these cases:

• Has the driver consuming the medication actually been impaired by it? There must be a concrete connection.
• How much is the impairment? How can you measure the intoxication?
• Is the medication the actual cause of impairment or is it due to something other than that such as lack of sleep, allergies, sickness, etc.?
• What is the time gap between consuming the drug and the alleged impaired driving?

There are many more questions that need to be asked.

When you have the right attorney on your side, it’s difficult for the government to prove these cases. At The McShane Firm, all our attorneys have been trained rigorously, and they know how to defend drugged-driving cases by using scientific knowledge.

Please call 1-866-MCSHANE For free case consultation. We want to help you.

Justin McShane

PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane is the President/CEO of The McShane Firm, LLC - Pennsylvania's top criminal law and DUI law firm. He is the highest rated DUI attorney in PA as rated by Avvo.com. Justin McShane is a double Board certified attorney. He is the first and so far the only Pennsylvania attorney to achieve American Bar Association recognized board certification in DUI defense from the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. He is also a Board Certified Criminal Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Approved Agency.