Defenses Against Baltimore DUI Drug Charges

There are serious repercussions associated with getting charged with a DUI drug offense in Baltimore. Getting charged and subsequently convicted can hinder a person’s ability to obtain future job opportunities. Someone who wants to fight the DUID charges against them should research and hire an experienced Baltimore drug DUI attorney. The attorney will sit with them and discuss the situations of their case in detail and help them begin building a strong defense against the charges.

Involuntary Intoxication as a Defense

In Maryland, it’s incredibly difficult to prove that you were not aware that you were drunk or impaired by drugs. It’s very difficult to show that as a viable defense. One possible scenario is that you were at a party, and you didn’t know how strong the drinks were due to a drug being slipped into them without your knowledge or consent. But you’ve got to understand that that potential defense is difficult to prove without a blood test or physical evidence.

What if You Didn’t Know Drug Would Cause Impairment?

If you didn’t know that a drug would impair you, you can try to use an involuntary intoxication defense, but that’s also incredibly difficult—possibly the most difficult. It’s only a valid defense in the state of Maryland if you can prove that you were taking the medication as prescribed or directed (if it was an over-the-counter drug) and you were completely unaware that the drug would make you incapable of driving safely on the road because that drug had no warning or it stated that it would not cause drowsiness or impair your ability to drive.

Similarly, if you took a combination of drugs—maybe something that you normally take along with something else you were getting for the first time—and the combination had an adverse effect, that’s another way that you can try to mount an involuntary intoxication defense. Still they will be exceptionally difficult to prove.

Unexpected Interactions Between Drugs

An unexpected interaction between drugs can be used as a defense against DUID charges in Baltimore. If you’ve been regularly taking a drug prescribed to you by a doctor and then you’re taken ill or have another medication prescribed to you. And maybe no one in the doctor’s office or pharmacy thought to look it up; neither the doctor nor the pharmacist warned you and the drug has no side affects or warning.

In that case, you may be able to show that you had no intent or expectation of driving under the influence because you didn’t know there would be an interaction. It’s difficult, but it is a potential defense.

Role of Intent in Building a Baltimore DUID Defense

In certain instances, intent can matter in a Baltimore DUI drug defense. Generally, if you’re taking drugs, you should know you’re taking drugs. But if you didn’t take a drug and somehow it got into your system, how it got there is going to be very important because you’re arguing that you would never have gotten behind the wheel of a car knowing that you were under the influence.

That defense can work if you have no pattern or history of using the drug. You don’t do drugs, and yet you’re stopped and a blood test shows the presence of drugs in your system. How did they get there? If it wasn’t by you and it was by someone else, that’s a possible defense.