Prescription drug driving under the influence charges are serious in Virginia. There are harsh consequences for these charges because the judge and prosecutor want to ensure the person will not do it again. The penalties range from jail time to fines and having their license revoked. It is essential that someone has a reliable Virginia prescription drug DUI lawyer to help them build a strong defense case.
Without sound legal representation, someone could face maximum sentencing for their case, so it is imperative that they have a dedicated drug and driving under the influence lawyer. If you are facing prescription drug DUI charges, it is essential that you speak with a skilled DUID attorney immediately to begin building a defense case.
As defined by Virginia law, a prescription drug would be any drug that is prescribed to somebody by a doctor.
Some common examples of prescription drugs that are linked to drug DUIs are things like cough medication, Xanax, codeine and other things that are potentially not even classified but are prescribed, like hydrocodone and certain types of steroids. It depends on what a person is prescribed. Certainly, those are codeine and, obviously, hydrocodone. Those types of things are most common.
Penalties for prescription drug DUI charges could be, for a person’s first offense, up to 12 months in jail, up to a $2,500 fine, and a one-year loss of license, up to six months of an intoxilyzer should a person get a restricted license. Potentially, when a person gets a second DUI, if it is a second in five years, it could be a mandatory 20 days in jail in addition to up to a year of the total in jail, and a fine of $2,500. If it is a second within 10 years of the person’s last DUI, it is up to a year in jail, a fine of $2,500, but the mandatory minimum will be 10 days. Then, a person could potentially have other problems depending on what is in the person’s system and whether or not there is an accident related to it.
Then, of course, if it is a third offense DUI, things get even more serious. Even if it is a DUID for the third offense, it can qualify as a third offense DUI. The person would have a mandatory minimum of six months in jail unless their past convictions are over five years old, then that would be a mandatory 90 days. The person’s license is revoked, the person has, at a minimum, a $1,000 fine, and it could potentially get more serious because it is a felony offense and a person could potentially forfeit their vehicle.
In Virginia, the prosecutor and judge are not going to charge a person with possession because they have it in their system. They are not going to add that charge on. What they are going to do is probably give the person less negotiating room or less of a potential defense if they have some illegal drug in their system or they have something that they do not have a prescription for. At the same time, it might give a person leverage if they feel like informing to the police about where they got their illegal drugs, but it is not going to aggravate the charges in any particular way.
Somebody should contact a Virginia prescription drug DUI lawyer even if they think they can fight it on their own. A lot of people are under the mistaken assumption that because they are prescribed something it means that it is okay and that is not the case. A person can be convicted and serve jail time for a drug DUI even if they have a valid prescription for something. It all depends on what the drugs are and what effect they have on a person and what the listed side effects are and if a person takes them according to prescription or not or did they combine them with something else.
Certainly, a person does not want to change it. To drive with drugs, even prescription drugs, can have serious consequences. A person could have up to, if it is a person’s first offense, a year in jail, up to a $2,500.00 fine, and then potentially, their license would be suspended. It means the person would also face alcohol or substance abuse courses and the person would otherwise have this conviction on their record forever. Certainly, it is not something to mess around with and a Virginia prescription drug DUI lawyer would advise that somebody not try to fight it themselves even if they think that they have a good excuse for having it in their system at the time.
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