Question:

My son was arrested for possession of marijuana.  He was driving a car when he got arrested and we later found out he was also charged with DUI for smoking pot and driving.  He didn’t have anything to drink though.  Can they do that?

Answer:

The short answer is yes.  The police can charge a motorist with a violation of the Driving Under the Influence laws in Delaware even though they have had absolutely no alcoholic beverages to drink.

The DUI law is found at Title 21 of the Delaware Code, Section 4177(a).  That law states that no person shall drive a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, under the influence of any drug, under the influence of a combination of alcohol and any drug, when the persons’ alcohol concentration is .08 or more or when the persons’ alcohol concentration is .08 or more as tested within 4 hours after the time of driving. So there are multiple ways to violate Section 4177, the Delaware DUI statute.

The question is, in your son’s case, how will the police prove that your son was under the influence of the marijuana?  Did he admit to the police that he was smoking the pot prior to or while operating the motor vehicle?  Does the police report indicate that they observed behavior consistent with being high from smoking marijuana?  Did they perform any drug testing which would indicate the presence of marijuana within his system?

We would need to have more information about the facts of the case in order to determine whether we can assist your son to defend and beat this DUI charge. But the short answer to the question is yes, the police can arrest a defendant for driving a vehicle under the influence of marijuana.

Matt Stiller is the Delaware DUI Defender. If you have been arrested and charged with any criminal offense in Delaware, including DUI, CONTACT US TODAY for a consultation.