For many years in Utah, police officers have used breathalyzers during their investigations of individuals driving while under the influence of alcohol. These breathalyzers, often called portable breath tests (PBT’s), register a person’s breath alcohol content to determine if it is over the legal limit of .05. These PBT’s are preliminary tests, and the results are not admissible in court. In order to produce reliable results in court, officers must also have individuals perform a breath test with an intoxilyzer machine. These tests must be administered correctly, so it is important for a Utah DUI Defense Attorney to review the administration of these tests.

Marijuana Breathalyzer Testing

With the advent of states legalizing Marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes, police officers are encountering more and more people driving under the influence of marijuana. The issue, however, is whether having marijuana in one’s system affects his or her ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. When marijuana is used legally for recreational or medicinal purposes, should someone receive a DUI for using it? To answer this question, Oklahoma is starting a pilot program using breathalyzers to determine if someone has recently used marijuana. It is a new technology to determine whether someone might be too impaired to drive because of marijuana use. It will be interesting to see how the pilot program works, but it seems unlikely to help very much as tools like this just confirm an officer’s suspicion someone is too impaired to drive.

Marijuana DUI Lawyer

Although Utah does not have a marijuana breathalyzer, people are still arrested and charged for driving under the influence of marijuana. They are tested primarily through blood and urine to determine if marijuana is in their system. If you have been charged with a DUI for using marijuana, call a Provo DUI Defense Lawyer at 801-900-3371. Having adequate representation may save your driver’s license and keep you out of jail.

DUI Metabolite

When most people thing of a DUI they think of drunk driving, while this is obviously the most common scenario there are also other ways of being charged with a DUI, like driving under the influence of marijuana for example. One of the ways you could be charged with a DUI for consuming marijuana is if a blood test is done that shows there is marijuana in your system, this is called a DUI Metabolite. The difficulty is that marijuana can stay in your system for more than a month and show up as a metabolite on a blood test even though you have smoked in weeks. So if you’re thinking about going to a state where marijuana is now legal to consume of marijuana then be aware that you may run the risk of being pulled over, having blood taken, and facing criminal charges for a DUI metabolite.

Criminal Defense and DUI Attorney in Provo

If you are facing a DUI or DUI metabolite charge then you need to protect your rights and make sure you have an attorney to help you mitigate the damage. The law is stacked against you and a blood test showing marijuana in your system can often be insurmountable evidence. With the help of the attorneys at Provo DUI Defense you can make sure that the penalties you are facing are not as bad as they would be otherwise and that your future will not be placed in jeopardy for this one mistake. Call or email us today to find out more.