- First of all, it is very important to understand that the citizens of Illinois are now taking part in the exciting new experiment that may well chance the whole world in the future. Yet, do not forget about the restrictions that are still present. First of all, you are not allowed to have more than one ounce of marijuana at a time. Furthermore, it is strictly forbidden to smoke in the public places. And, of course, as expected, smoking and driving is also against the law.
- And while the law states that any Illinois citizen, who reached the age of 21 and above is able to use marijuana for recreational pleasure, do not forget that different cities are using different rules and policies. Now, while you are allowed to carry around and use up to 60 joints – one ounce of pot at a time, even your employer may have his very own policies regarding recreational use and even concerning the time that you are spending in the house.
- Now, there is one common misconception – people consider that minor drug offenses are not illegal anymore. And this is not the case – if you were charged with illegal purchase or distribution, or even usage of marijuana, you may lose your student privileges, work-related benefits, different social packages and, of course, it will show in any background check on you – that much is absolutely certain.
- Even if you yourself are 21 and wish to share that marijuana with anyone else, who is under that age, it is considered illegal. You cannot do that. In addition, do not forget that if you are driving with marijuana in your pocket and you are under 18, this automatically implies that you will lose your driving privileges.
- Do not forget that you cannot sell the weed that you purchased to anyone – it is still illegal. Nevertheless, you can gift not more than one ounce of marijuana to anyone over 21 and it will not be considered illegal, as long as there is no money exchange in it.
- A lot of people are wondering if there is a legal limit of how much THC they may have in their system while driving. And the limit is 5 nanograms or less of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol – the active substance in marijuana. Nevertheless, that chart is in the gray area, since it is pretty much impossible to establish what quantity of THC a person has in his blood – this is very much different from alcohol and this is why it is nearly impossible to tell you how many joints you can smoke and get behind the wheel without fear.
- In case that the law enforcement officer has any reason to believe that you were in fact driving under the influence of weed, he or she will ask you to submit yourself to the blood test. And these tests are far from being refined – they are very much inaccurate and, chances are, they will be incorrect. In some of the cases they demonstrate that a person is stoned even hours after smoking anything and in other cases a person may be completely sober, whereas the test indicates that he or she still has too much THC in the system. Hence, perhaps it would be wise to refuse to submit to the blood test to begin with. However, even if you decided to submit, make sure that you will get a blood sample as well, to test it independently in the future, if something goes wrong.
- Of course, there is a certain risk that you are going to lose the driving privileges for refusing to submit to the blood test to begin with. Yet, you can always politely refuse to submit yourself to the different field sobriety tests, without having to fear for any kind of legal consequences.
- In fact, the field sobriety tests are very much subjective and very much depend on how the law enforcement officer sees your actions. Hence, these cannot really be trusted and you can refuse to take part in those to begin with.
- While some people are eager to tell you that driving while being stoned is a lot safer than driving under the influence of alcohol, think about something – the perception of the environment is blurred and the reaction time increases, so would you like for such a driver to drive around the roadways?
- In case that you are using medical marijuana and you have a special card that allows you to do that, you cannot be arrested for driving under intoxication and this is not the probable cause for the blood test as well.
- Just like with alcohol, driving around with an open package of marijuana is also illegal. If the seal was broken, the law enforcement officer will put and administrative penalty on you. Hence, make sure you put it as far away as possible – preferably inside the trunk of the vehicle.
- Even if you are a passenger, you cannot smoke marijuana in the back seat. Furthermore, you cannot smoke weed in the taxi. The only exception is the private hired car – there you can smoke weed on the back seat legally and without breaking any kind of laws.
- The legal regulations on the matter are quite new and do not work as they were meant to yet, so make sure that you keep up with all the latest news and recent updates about marijuana use and DUI in order to stay away from the trouble. For now, it is still a gray area and one that does require plenty of clarification. Only a professional DUI attorney would know how to develop a defense strategy in case you were arrested for Marijuana DUI.
If you need a professional assistance for your marijuana DUI case, call Law Offices of Chicago DUI Experts directly, or email us using contact page.
