Don’t plead guilty to a marijuana DUI

Speaker 1
00:00:00:24 – 00:00:02:02
Hi, everyone. Today, we’re going to talk about the top three reasons you shouldn’t
plead guilty to a marijuana DUI.
This is Christina Williams with Just Criminal Law.
Speaker 2
00:00:12:15 – 00:00:13:27
And this is David Mann, legal storytelling specialist.
All right. So maybe set up a situation for us in which you might
be accused of, of a DUI under THC.
Speaker 1
00:00:23:10 – 00:00:23:21
Sure. Say you smoked marijuana earlier in the day and that afternoon you decide to go out
and run some errands and the road conditions are bad and you end up
getting into a little fender bender with another car.
The next thing you know, the police are called and they start asking you questions.
They notice that there’s a marijuana pipe in your cupholder and the next thing you know,
you’re being arrested for a DUI.
Speaker 2
00:00:54:18 – 00:00:55:15
Hmm. Okay. Now we’ve done other videos that talk about how a DUI
with alcohol is different than a DUI that involves THC,
that there’s a difference in how it functions in your system.
So I assume that this is about that, right?
Speaker 1
00:01:10:27 – 00:01:15:18
Correct. And even the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
acknowledges or concedes that it’s difficult to establish a relationship
between THC blood levels and poor performance. That is, poor performance
on the field sobriety tests or poor performance in your driving.
Speaker 2
00:01:35:12 – 00:01:37:16
Okay, so then what are the three… You said there are three reasons
not to plead guilty and they have all have to do with this I assume. So what’s the first one?
Speaker 1
00:01:43:24 – 00:01:46:02
Right. So when we’re looking at the state, having to establish a THC blood level, that is,
you’ve gone down to the station, they’ve taken your blood and you come back positive for what appears to be THC.
Now, there’s three things, three possibilities here that are going to be issues for the state.
00:02:05:12 – 00:02:09:22
The first one being that the THC levels in your blood do not equal the THC levels in your brain
and your brain is what controls your performance.
So there’s no direct correlation between the levels that are in your blood.
They’re going to be different than the levels in your brain.
And so unless you have a neurological exam at the time of the accident, that’s an exam done by a doctor,
they’re not going to know whether or not the THC in your system is actually causing the accident.
So that’s the first thing.
Speaker 2
00:02:47:02 – 00:02:49:08
Okay. So what’s the second one?
Speaker 1
00:02:49:08 – 00:02:52:24
The second one is keep in mind that people respond to drugs differently and specifically THC.
So if person smokes THC, they’re going to have a different tolerance and a different response
than person B who smokes the same amount of THC or marijuana.
And so it really is case by case. If they get a certain level of THC
in your blood, that doesn’t automatically mean that you’re going to
have an accident because you’re impaired.
Keep in mind that accidents sometimes just happen.
And so because each person responds differently
to THC, even at the same level in their blood, that’s going to make it
difficult for the state to prove that that was the link that caused the accident.
Speaker 2
00:03:48:12 – 00:03:48:27
I see. Unlike alcohol, where we have sort of a standardized level system.
So what is the third reason?
Speaker 1
00:03:55:15 – 00:03:58:12
The third reason is that when the lab tests your blood for what they’re looking for,
that is THC. It’s a drug that’s going to potentially be able to impair you.
They’re not able to distinguish what the blood results are showing from, say, CBD
and that non intoxicating substance that has the exact same molecular makeup
and the same molecular weight as THC.
So when they get a reading back that indicates, you know, you have so much THC in your blood,
they can’t say for certain that that’s in fact there’s THC that causes impairment and not a similar isomer.
That’s the CBD showing up in your blood.
Speaker 2
00:04:50:25 – 00:04:51:12
All right. So those are some pretty strong disparities between a DUI and a DUI,
that DUI with alcohol versus one with THC.
So it sounds like a person in this situation, this fender bender might need an attorney
and that probably should be you. So how do they get a hold of you?
Speaker 1
00:05:06:27 – 00:05:07:11
Sure. We’ll include a link in the description where they can call, text
or chat with a member of my team. Any time, day or night.
00:05:15:04 – 00:05:16:05
Here at Just Criminal Law, we know you only get one shot at justice.
So make yours count.