Facing charges for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI) can be daunting, especially if you are sure that you did not take drugs or alcohol while driving. Some medications can increase your blood alcohol concentration level (BAC). This could result in a DUI charge even when you have taken any drug or alcohol at all.
BAC levels are the standard checks that the police employ. They help to identify if you are under the influence of alcohol. However, there are times when medications affect the results of breath and field sobriety tests. This could lead to false positives that could see you arrested.
If you or a loved one is charged with a DUI, you need the help of a DUI defense lawyer.
This is because these cases can be challenging to navigate. Your attorney can help you prove in court that you were not under the influence while driving. They will guide you through the whole process and ensure you are not wrongfully charged because of rising BAC levels.
Understanding DUI
Driving under the influence (DUI) is operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or both. California Vehicle Code 23152 prohibits the operation of a vehicle with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. This legal limit is valid for most drivers. However, for commercial drivers, the legal limit is 0.04%. For first-time drivers under 21, the limit is 0.01%.
If a police officer believes you are driving under the influence, they will pull you over. They will use a BAC test to determine the level of your intoxication. These tests include the breathalyzer test or the field sobriety test. These tests are very critical in DUI cases. A BAC level over the legal limit will lead to:
- Your arrest
- Criminal charges
- Fines
- Suspension of your license
- Imprisonment
How the Police Use BAC Levels
BAC is the most crucial standard used by the police to determine if you were under the influence. It is used to test the percentage of alcohol in your blood. With a breathalyzer, you breathe into it, and the results show the level of BAC in you. However, with a blood test, your blood is tested to determine BAC levels.
For example, a BAC of 0.08% means that there is 0.08% alcohol in your blood in terms of volume. This measurement assesses the degree of your impairment in DUI cases.
If you are operating a vehicle and your BAC level is 0.08%, you are likely to be arrested for DUI.
Even though these tests can accurately measure alcohol consumption, they can also give wrong information. Some medications, too, and medical conditions can influence your BAC levels. They can also provide false positive results.
You should seek to comprehend how BAC is employed. You also want to know how it might impact your standing in a DUI charge case. This information will help you when you are building your defense together with your attorney.
Do Medicines Affect Your BAC Levels?
Yes, certain drugs raise BAC levels. They include cough syrups, cold medications, and some mouthwashes that contain alcohol as an ingredient. These medicines can cause high BAC. They can indicate that you have been drinking alcohol but have not.
Also, how fast the medicines are infused into your blood may influence your BAC levels. Certain medications will even slow down the rate at which the body metabolizes alcohol. They include ulcer medications such as cimetidine or any type of gastrointestinal medication. This could result in you testing above the legal limit even after you have taken small portions of alcohol.
Moreover, prescription medications like antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs, and antihistamines do not raise your BAC levels. However, they do intensify the impact of the alcohol you ingest. They make you seem more drunk than you are.
This interaction between medications and alcohol can make driving dangerous. It could also impact your ability to perform a field sobriety test, resulting in your arrest.
Knowing how medications can affect your BAC levels is vital in fighting DUI cases. You could be charged with a DUI, while it could just be the side effects of your medications. Your attorney can use this defense to convince the judge to dismiss your case.
Medication that Could Interfere with Your Blood Alcohol Concentration Levels
Several drugs have been known to interfere with breath tests, making the BAC readings very high. A breathalyzer works with the principle of detecting alcohol in your breath. However, this device could give false positive results. This is due to the drugs exhibiting chemicals similar to alcohol. Some of the common medications that could interfere with the breathalyzer results include the following:
- Diabetes Medications: If you have diabetes, you can produce acetone in your breath. Especially if you are using insulin. Breathalyzers are also known to produce false positive readings for acetone as ethanol. Ethanol is the kind of alcohol found in alcoholic drinks.
- Over-the-Counter Medications: Robitussin, Vicks, Nquil, and other cold and cough medicines contain alcohol in their formulation. Any amount of these medications can leave remnant alcohol on your breath. These remnants can influence your breath alcohol content readings.
- Asthma Inhalers: Salbutamol or albuterol inhaled from inhalers affects breathalyzer tests. The propellant used in these inhalers has an alcohol-like chemical composition. It can affect your BAC levels and lead to your arrest.
- Medications for Gastrointestinal Conditions: Several drugs that treat gastrointestinal conditions give positive results on the breathalyzer. They include ranitidine (Zantac). These drugs affect how alcohol metabolizes, resulting in higher BAC levels expected if you take alcohol.
- Breath Sprays and Mouthwash: Several oral rinses and breath control products contain a high alcohol percentage. If you take these products immediately before a breath test, they will increase your BAC levels. This is true even when you are not in any actual state of intoxication.
For these reasons, you should tell your lawyer if you were on any medications before a DUI halt. Especially if you were the one operating the vehicle. An experienced DUI defense attorney has the chance of contesting the breathalyzer test in court. They can also convince the judge to reduce or do away with the DUI charges against you.
Prescription Medicines Influence on Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs)
Several drugs can affect FSTs, even if they do not raise your BAC level in the first place. Field sobriety tests are meant to measure your ability to perform specific tasks. The tasks could include balancing, memory, and attention. Prescription medicines used for various ailments could affect your balance. They could also affect your memory and attention, making you look like you are intoxicated.
Antidepressants and Anti-Anxiety Medications
Medications like Xanax, Valium, Prozac, and other antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and anti-anxiety drugs can lead to drowsiness, dizziness, or confusion. These side effects can resemble the symptoms of alcohol-induced motor incoordination. That includes difficulties in balancing or following instructions when performing an FST.
Muscle Relaxants and Painkillers
Any painkiller can cause drowsiness, slower reaction, and impaired motor control. Be it OxyContin or muscle relaxants such as Flexeril. That means you can walk and talk perfectly well but fail the walk-and-turn or one-leg stand part of a field sobriety test. It is true even if your blood alcohol concentration is zero or below the legal limit.
Allergy medications and Antihistamines
Most over-the-counter drugs, which get rid of allergies, have side effects such as drowsiness and slow reaction time. They could make you fail the sobriety tests. Even though they are legal, they can have the same negative impact on your motor coordination, just like alcohol.
You should tell your attorney if you are taking any of these medications. Impairment by prescription drugs is not the same as being intoxicated by alcohol. Your DUI defense lawyer will be able to convince the jury that your failed field sobriety test was due to medication. They can also argue that you were not under the influence of any banned substance.
Diseases that can Show a False Positive Result on Breath Tests
Some diseases and conditions can cause false positives in the DUI test. This means that you can be considered to be drunk when you are not. Even breathalyzers and blood tests can be affected by factors in your system other than alcohol. Some of the diseases that affect breath tests include the following:
Diabetes
If you have diabetes, especially if you tend to have a high random blood sugar level, you are likely to develop a condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis. This condition causes the body to produce ketones. When ketones are broken down, they produce acetone. Acetone has the same chemicals or characteristics as alcohol when taken for breath analysis.
Therefore, if you have diabetes, you could register a high blood alcohol concentration. This is true, even if you have not taken alcohol.
GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease)
GERD makes stomach acid flow back into the esophagus. Also, occasionally, small amounts of alcohol from the stomach may make their way into the mouth. This can cause your blood alcohol concentration levels to rise, giving false positive results. This is true even when you have just consumed a little alcohol or taken medication for acid reflux.
Lung Disease
Some medical conditions, such as asthma or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), affect how a breathalyzer operates. If you suffer from a lung disease, you may not be able to blow into the instrument adequately, which could result in the wrong BAC level results.
Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar)
Low blood sugar levels often present symptoms that are very close to drunkenness. They include confusion, dizziness, and slurred speech. This condition does not raise BAC levels, but its signs may be interpreted as drunkenness during field sobriety tests. These false signs could result in an unnecessary DUI arrest.
Therefore, you should tell your attorney if you have any medical conditions. These health issues are very likely to affect any DUI test outcomes. They can also be the best defense against any DUI case.
Blood Alcohol Concentration Tests for Individual Use
There are personal BAC tests that can be bought over the counter. These tests can help you determine your blood alcohol level before you drive.
What are Some Ways to Reduce Blood Alcohol Concentration?
As soon as alcohol gets into your system, there is no quick fix to lower your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The human body processes alcohol in a reasonably steady manner. You process alcohol at an average of 0.015% per hour.
Although there are many myths about how to enhance this process, such as drinking coffee, taking a cold shower, or exercising, none of them impact the decrease of BAC.
The only sure way of decreasing your BAC levels is by allowing your body enough time to oxidize the alcohol on its own. Your liver metabolizes the alcohol in your blood, and it takes time before complete digestion and expulsion. Therefore, bringing your BAC to the legal limit may take several hours.
Find a Los Angeles DUI Defense Attorney Near Me
If you are charged with DUI because of high BAC, you may be confused or stressed. Your results may have been affected by medications or medical conditions. Dealing with such cases on your own is not easy under California DUI statutes.
You should, therefore, seek an experienced lawyer to represent you. Your lawyer will help build solid defenses that could see your case dismissed. They could also convince the jury to reduce your sentence. A lawyer will also advise you and take you through the legal process of a DUI.
At Jonathan Franklin DUI Attorney, we offer defense services for DUI defendants across Los Angeles. We will analyze your BAC test results. We also assess your medical history and any medications you might be taking. All these can help us build solid defenses to prove your innocence. Our objective is to make sure your side of the story is heard. Call us today at 323-464-6700 to speak to one of our attorneys and schedule a consultation.
