Driving under the influence of drugs in Italy: what happens to you if you take drugs and then drive a car?
You could face criminal prosecution. When? I will explain it to you in this article.
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What does the law provide?
According to art. 187 CdS anyone who drives in a state of psychophysical deficiency after consuming drugs is punished with arrest, fine and suspension of the driving license.
But are these penalties still imposed every time I take drugs and drive?
Is it still a crime?
The answer is no: the law does not provide for it. Let me explain it to you in more detail.
According to the provisions of the law, the conduct of driving after having consumed drugs is not sanctioned, but that of driving in a state of psychophysical alteration after having consumed drugs.
What is the difference?
As you will have understood the difference is very subtle, but the objective of the law is to punish THOSE WHO PUT THE CIRCULATION ON THE ROAD IN DANGER AFTER TAKING DRUGS AND NOT WHO DRIVE “ONLY” AFTER TAKING THE SUBSTANCE.
In theory you could consume drugs, drive and not be penalized if you are still lucid: my advice, of course, is not to do it because it is better to avoid any kind of legal problem and above all it is always better to avoid putting people in danger.
Why do I tell you this? I will give you a practical example.
I will tell you the case of one of our clients
In the case we are facing, one of our clients had been the subject of a criminal trial precisely because he was accused of driving under the influence of drugs.
He was arrested at a police checkpoint and tested positive for drugs after being taken to the hospital to investigate the case.
In the criminal trial, we were able to show that the drug was ingested the day before the police checkpoint.
Consequently, the ingestion of the substance, several hours before the arrest, had in no way jeopardized road safety, precisely because the effects of the substance had been largely suppressed.
So basically, our client had not been driving under the influence of drugs but nonetheless the tests were positive because the substance had been taken the day before.
What can we learn from this story?
That after taking any type of narcotic it is better not to drive first for road safety reasons and then because you could face a criminal trial.
But in general, it is much better not to use drugs because they hurt and can cause problems even if you have taken them long before driving.
Request for advice
If you are in the same condition as our client and therefore if you have been arrested by the police for driving under the influence of drugs, you have to know that you will be subject to criminal proceedings and therefore can face to criminal proceedings in Italy. In these cases you can contact our law firm which, as I have shown you, has experience in this sector solving the identical case of our client. You can contact us at the following numbers.