DUI Drugs. What You Need to Know.

One of the problems law enforcement and prosecutors have to overcome when prosecuting DUI drug offenses is being able to tie alleged drug consumption with impairment  at the time of driving. Some substances stay in your system for only a short time, so it’s easier for law enforcement and prosecutors to establish that any impairment-related observations they make of a driver are consistent with the substance found in his or her system. Examples of this are alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, LSD, and heroin. On the other hand, there are a host of drugs that remain in a user’s system for much longer, making it more difficult to tie impairment related characteristics to the substance detected. Examples of this are cannabis, crystal meth, and benzodiazapines. So theoretically, a driver can smoke pot on Monday and it will show up in his urine the following Saturday. In fact, it can still show up in his urine 30 days later if he’s an occasional user, and as much as 90 days later if he’s a chronic user. What further complicates the matter is the source from which the substance is detected. Specifically, drugs or their metabolites will be detected in the urine longer than they will in the blood, and in hair follicles longer than in either urine or blood. So blood analysis is the most reliable method of tying impairment to substance use, urine is second best, and then hair follicle analysis is third. Below is an estimate of how long particular substances will remain in a user’s blood, urine, and hair follicles. These are estimates of averages only.

Alcohol can be detected for up to 10 to 12 hours in blood, 3 to 5 days in urine, and 90 in hair.

Amphetamines can be detected for up to 12 hours in blood, 3 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Barbiturates can be detected after 1 to 2 days in blood, 2 to 4 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Benzodiazapines can be detected for 2 to 3 days in blood, 3 to 6 weeks in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Cannabis can be detected for up to 2 weeks in blood, 30 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Cocaine can be detected for up to 2 days in blood, 4 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Codeine can be detected for up to 12 hours in blood, 1 day in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Heroin can be detected for up to 12 hours in blood, 4 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

LSD can be detected for up to 3 hours in blood, 3 days in urine, and 3 days in hair.

MDMA (ecstasy) can be detected for up to 2 days in blood, 4 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Methamphetamine (crystal meth) can be detected for up to 3 days in blood, 6 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Methadone can be detected for up to 3 days in blood, 4 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

Morphine can be detected for up to 8 hours in blood, 3 days in urine, and 90 days in hair.

For more information in this, or any other DUI related topics, Contact the Fort Lauderdale DUI lawyers at Golburgh Law today.