When facing impaired driving charges, the type of impairment may be very important. It can certainly impact how likely someone is to be accused of driving while under the influence.
For instance, many people drive after consuming alcohol, but it’s possible to track how long alcohol impairment will last. This is why the police will measure a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC). They know that their BAC should be dropping by about 0.015% per hour. If a person’s reading is low enough, then they cannot presume impairment. For most drivers, the legal limit is 0.08%.
But it’s crucial to understand that impairment does not just come from alcohol and that arrests can be made when drivers are under the influence of other substances. One example of this is marijuana, which can sometimes be taken in edible form. But how long will this last and impair someone’s ability to drive?
A minimum of 3 hours
Sources do vary on this, but it’s important to remember that edibles will usually last for a minimum of 3 to 4 hours. Some could last for 6 to 12 hours. It depends on a lot of different factors, such as the dose that was taken, if the person is a chronic user and whether the edibles were even labeled correctly and contained the amount of THC that was expected.
But what happens to most people is that they take the edibles, they kick in about an hour later, and the person will then experience their peak high for another hour. After that, they may think that they have come down from being high, but the edibles could actually still last for hours longer. This is sometimes what leads to violations of driving under the influence – the user doesn’t realize they are still impaired.
If you find yourself in this position, it’s very important to know about all of your legal defense options and the steps you need to take next.
