Drug/Marijuana DUI Defense

In Illinois you can be charged with DUI for driving with ANY amount of a prohibited substance (drug) in your system, and/or 5 nannograms or more of cannabis in your bloodstream or 10 or more nannograms of cannabis in your urine or saliva. Police officers are specifically trained to detect which drug from amongst seven categories may be in your system and how to conduct the 12 step Drug Recognition Examination through NHTSA’s Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) courses. In addition to the three Standardized Field Sobriety tests, officers are also taught how to administer and interpret several other non standardized exercises utilized as part of the Drug DUI protocols like the Modified Romberg, Finger to Nose and Lack of Convergence tests (amongst other things).

In Illinois, you may be charged with driving under the influence of marijuana under two different scenarios:

*Driving while under the influence of marijuana alone or in combination with other drug(s), meaning that you are incapable of safely driving (usually based, at least in part, on a police officer’s observations); and/or

*Driving with a THC concentration of 5 or more nanograms in your bloodstream or 10 or more nanograms in any other bodily substance (e.g. saliva or urine) within 2 hours of driving or being in physical control of a motor vehicle.

However, the law that prohibits driving with an impermissible THC concentration in your system does not apply if you hold a valid medical marijuana card and are a registered medical marijuana user. In other words, if you are registered medical marijuana user, you may only be charged with cannabis DUI based on a police officer’s observations of you. The criminal penalties for a cannabis DUI are essentially the same as the penalties for an alcohol DUI.

You are subject to two possible types of Statutory Summary Suspensions in a Cannabis DUI:

i) Failing or refusing STANDARDIZED FIELD SOBRIETY TESTING (eligible for a Monitoring Device Driving Permit if you’re a first offender and do not have a Field Sobriety Test Suspension)

ii) Failing or refusing CHEMICAL TESTING (not eligible for a Monitoring Device Driving Permit)

Please note that the Secretary of State can issue BOTH of the above suspensions relating to the same case.

Please also note that for a FIELD SOBRIETY TEST SUMMARY SUSPENSION you are subject to either a six month (failure) or twelve month (refusal) suspension of driving privileges.

Individuals who possess a Medical Cannabis Registry Card May be subject to a Statutory Summary Suspension if they are impaired.