SB 216 - This act creates the crime of driving with any controlled substance in the body. A person commits such crime when he or she operates a motor vehicle with any amount of a controlled substance or its metabolite present in his or her body. It is an affirmative defense if the accused person consumed the controlled substance under the valid prescription of a doctor, dentist, or other health care provider. This crime is a Class B misdemeanor for a first offense. Certain statutes regarding revocation and suspension of driver's licenses are modified in order to treat the crime of driving with any controlled substance in the body in the same manner as driving in an intoxicated condition.
Currently, a person who has committed the offense of driving in an intoxicated condition or with an excessive blood alcohol content may be required by the court to reimburse law enforcement agencies for costs associated with the arrest. This act allows the court to require the same of persons who commit driving with any controlled substance in the body.
Currently, a person commits the crime of endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree if he or she drives with an excessive blood alcohol content when a child less than seventeen years of age is in the vehicle. Under this act, a person commits the same crime when driving with a controlled substance in the body when a child less than seventeen years of age is in the vehicle.
This act includes the crime of driving with any controlled substance in the body in statutes regarding chemical testing upon arrest by law enforcement and the use of such testing in court and treats the crime in the same manner as driving with an excessive blood alcohol content and driving in an intoxicated condition.
The term "intoxication-related traffic offense" is modified to include driving with any controlled substance in the body. This term is used to determine whether a person is a prior, persistent, aggravated, or chronic offender. Such offenders receive respectively increasing penalties.
Under this act, a person who commits driving with any controlled substance in the body is required to participate in and complete a substance abuse traffic offender program in the same manner as persons who commit driving while in an intoxicated condition.
This act is similar to HB 336 (2007).
SUSAN HENDERSON MOORE