Arizona Misdemeanor DUI Drug Laws

Not only does Arizona have laws against drunk driving (driving under the influence), the State also has DUI drug laws which mirror the DUI alcohol laws.

Basically, Arizona has two drug laws prohibiting a person from operating a motor vehicle with drugs in their system. These are:

§28-1381(a)(1): It is a misdemeanor to drive under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

§28-1381(a)(3): It is a misdemeanor to drive with the metabolite of a illicit drug in your system.

In most cases, both the §28-1381(a)(1) and §28-1381(a)(3) offenses will be charged.

This will happen where you are cited for DUI and the police suspect you have an illicit drug in your system. As a general rule, the police will only cite a person under Arizona’s DUI drugs law if they believe the person has the metabolite of an illicit drug in their system.

The §28-1381(a)(3) charge only requires the police to show you have the metabolite of an illicit drug in your body.

This charge does not require the police to establish you were under the influence of the drug.

Thus, if a person smoked marijuana twenty days ago and the metabolite is still in their system, the person can be convicted of violating this law.

In fact, even if the person has non-illicit prescription or over the counter drugs in their system, the police can charge a person for violating §28-1381(a)(1).

In order to properly issue the citation, the police must have probable cause to believe the drug in your system is impairing your ability to drive to the slightest degree.

It is very uncommon for the police to charge a person in this situation unless they believe the person overdosed on their prescription or over the counter medication and they cannot safely operate a motor vehicle as a result.

The penalties are similar for a DUI alcohol charge. However, a conviction for DUI drugs normally results in loss of your driver’s license for one year whereas a conviction for DUI Alcohol normally results in a 90 day loss of your license. Also, you can only be penalized once even if you are convicted of both the §28-1381(a)(1) and §28-1381(a)(3) charges.